


Dare to Hope

by cat3500



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Baby, Child, Drama, F/M, Family, HuntingBird, Inhuman, Mockingbird - Freeform, Pregnancy, Road Trips, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-06-09 00:24:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6881737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cat3500/pseuds/cat3500
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one could have foreseen the magnitude of the problem facing Bobbi and Hunter, least of all Bobbi and Hunter themselves. Bobbi knew her news was going to change their world, but she had no idea the effect it would have on the world at large. How can one tiny baby be the cause of so much mayhem and pain? *Ongoing work - many more chapters to come*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hi guys. This is the first story I've posted on here, though I've been writing on and off for many years. I posted this elsewhere on the web, but I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoy. This story starts early season 3 but goes off on a tangent pretty fast! 

Chapter 1

"This is insane."

"Yep."

Hunter leant his elbows on the counter and put his face in his hands. He took a deep breath before raising his head. Bobbi sat across from him, looking at him with the uncompromising level gaze of hers that he knew so well. But now she didn't look as sure of herself as he was used to seeing. She looked vulnerable, despite her front. He could still read her like a book. He knew she hated it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Hunter, I'm sure. Trust me, I wouldn't be having this conversation if it wasn't entirely necessary." Bobbi sighed and slumped forward on the stool, leaning on the breakfast bar too. It was early. Too early. The rest of the team was not up yet and the coffee hadn't even brewed. Hunter rubbed sleep out of his eyes and matched her gaze. They sat in silence for a moment, studying each other's expression. Concern, fear, love and warmth radiated between them with just one look.

"What are you thinking?" Hunter asked, testing the waters out loud. He learnt his lesson long ago that communication was they key to survival in matters of his relationship with Bobbi. He had also learnt to gauge his ex-wife's opinion on sensitive matters before coming straight out with his own. That way leads to shouting and slammed doors and it was far too early for that level of noise.

"I'm wondering how we got ourselves into this mess."

A sly smile crept onto the corner of Hunter's mouth. "Well, there was the tequila. Or maybe it was that time after that particularly horrendous mission when we..."

Bobbi narrowed her eyes. "Now is not the time."

Hunter relented. "Sorry. But really, what do we do?"

Bobbi closed her eyes and shook hear head. "I don't know. I mean, we can't keep it, surely?"

"No, that wouldn't be sensible."

"But I don't think I could bring myself to get rid of it either. I mean, I've done some pretty messed up things in my life but that..."

Bobbi was thinking aloud. Lance was trying his best not to think at all. They sat quietly for a while, listening to the coffee machine work its magic. Finally, Hunter spoke. "I'm here for you, ok? Whatever we decide to do we'll decide it together. I care about you Bob" he said, and Bobbi looked up, somewhat surprised. "Don't look so shocked, you care about me too."

"Sometimes."

"You took a bullet for me."

Bobbi couldn't argue with that. Hunter drove her crazy on a daily basis, but she did care, she couldn't pretend otherwise any more. Something changed that day. When she woke up after her first surgery and saw him sitting by her bed, it felt so natural and normal that he should be by her side. Not that they'd sat down and discussed their feelings since that moment, not until now.

Hunter carried on. "No matter how much we argue and how infuriating you are sometimes..." Bobbi opened her mouth to argue but he raised his hand to shush her. "I care a lot about you, I think I always have." He reached across and took her hand. "I love you, I do. These past few months have been good, us finally getting along. By our standards anyway. And the sex is pretty great." Bobbi smiled, she couldn't resist. Hunter smiled too, because she was smiling. He didn't see that often enough. "I like it, and I hope you feel the same way."

Bobbi stared down at their hands, fingers intertwined. "I do." She paused, nodding to herself. When she spoke aloud, it was half to herself and half to Hunter. "But we can't have a child."

"Right." Hunter didn't let go of her hand, instead he brought his other one from the beneath the table and offered it to her as well. She laid her own hand in his. "It would be stupid, selfish of us to have a baby. Our relationship is volatile to say the least. It's good now but who knows what I might do in the future to piss you off."

Bobbi laughed, some of the tension leaving her. She acknowledged and appreciated that Lance had eluded to the prospect of a potential break up being his fault, and not placing the blame on her as he had done in the past. But she knew better than to call him on it, he'd only get defensive again. She enjoyed the moment, and saw in his eyes that he knew what he had said. They knew each other inside out, it was true. It was the best and the worse thing about their relationship. Even when they kept secrets from each other, the other knew there was something being hidden. In some ways they kept their distance. It sort of worked, at least sometimes. But this was one secret she couldn't keep from him, it wouldn't be fair.

"Not to mention the job we do. It's dangerous. You nearly died in my arms for God's sake." Hunter faltered, a memory flash of seeing her bleeding on the floor, barely conscious knocked him back.

Bobbi squeezed his hand. "I know. So what do we do?"

Hunter shrugged, his bravado returning. He let go of her hands and stood up. "First, we drink coffee." He walked across the kitchen and retrieved the coffee pot and two mugs. While his back was turned, he asked "How long have you known?"

"I took the test yesterday."

He smiled, glad that she couldn't see his face. This was new, her not hiding something this big from him. Years ago she would have brooded over the problem for at least a week before confiding in him. Were they finally in an adult relationship? He turned back around. "How far along are you?"

Bobbi shrugged. "I don't know."

"We could get Simmons to..."

"No!" Bobbi was louder than she intended. She added in a much quieter voice "No one else can know yet, why do you think I dragged you out of bed at this hour? There's no chance of having a private conversation in this place once everyone is up."

"If you'd let me into you room last night, we could be wrapped up in bed right now..."

"Now that you know I'm pregnant, are you really surprised I wouldn't let you near me last night?"

Hunter raised his eyebrows and pushed a mug of black coffee across the counter. "The damage has been done love."

Bobbi stared into the dark liquid and wrapped her hands around the mug. "You're right about that."

"You should go to a doctor though, just to be absolutely sure. I'm sure we can find a way to sneak off base later."

"I'm not sure when. Lincoln got a tip about some kind of Inhuman research archive he caught wind of, Coulson wants us to all go and take a look."

"Isn't that more FitzSimmons' territory?"

Bobbi shrugged. "What the boss says..."

Hunter took a big gulp of coffee. "Fine. But I'm coming with you. And no heavy lifting."

Bobbi narrowed her eyes at him, but the smile playing on her lips betrayed her glare. "You say something like that in front of the team and I'll kick your ass."

Hunter grinned. "I don't doubt it."

Bobbi's expression softened. "I mean it, you're the only person who knows and I want to keep it that way until we decide what to do."

"I'm only teasing. I can keep my mouth shut when I have to."

Bobbi smiled, standing up. "I've got to take a shower. See you at the Quin Jet when we leave." She walked past him on her way to the door and planted a quick kiss on Hunter's lips. Hunter watched her leave and smiled to himself, but immediately caught himself. What were they doing? What possible way could they bring up a child successfully in the world that they lived in? Hunter took a deep breath, thinking too far into the future would only cause him to panic, and that would not be productive for his relationship or his sanity. One day at a time, one moment at a time, and he and Bobbi would get through this. They had to.

Hunter drained his coffee and climbed off his stool. Mack entered the kitchen then, and raised his hand by way of greeting, looking too sleepy to form words. "There's coffee in the pot" Hunter said, on his way out the door. "Looks like you need it."

\----------

The room was covered in dust, it didn't look like anyone had been there in months. Books and strange instruments and artefacts lay on every surface, from the large wooden desk in the centre of the room to every inch of the floor. The team entered with caution through the unlocked door, Mack and Lincoln in front with Coulson, Daisy and Bobbi behind. May, having flown the team here, was keeping watch outside.

Hunter somewhat grudgingly helped Fitz and Simmons bring in their analytical equipment. He was really more of an action guy than a carrying guy, but when he pointed this out on the plane on the way, Bobbi told him to stop moaning and do what he was told if he wanted to tag along. Hunter swore she got a kick out of ribbing him in front of others, but today he'd let her get away with it. Only today.

He dropped a large silver case on a spare patch of floor with a thud, and there was immediately a chorus of "be careful!" from the two scientists.

"Sorry!" he said, sounding to his ears just like a petulant child, and hated himself for being that guy. He was on edge. He looked up at Bobbi, one hand on the gun in her holster, as she swept the large room for signs of life. He didn't want to take his eyes off her.

Bobbi felt Hunter's gaze on her back as she shone her torch into a walk in storage closet on the far side of the room. She couldn't decide if it was sweet or annoying that he had barely taken his eyes off her since they left the base. Most of the time him staring at her turned her on, but right now it was off-putting. Was she going to have to put up with this for nine months? Bobbi checked herself, banishing that thought from her mind. It was far too soon to think that way. She was still in shock honestly, she never dreamt she would get herself into this situation. She'd made the decision, somewhat unconsciously, some time ago that motherhood was not for her. How could it be, when she hunted aliens and bad guys for a living? She was pulled off of her train of thought by a tap on her shoulder, and she spun around to see Daisy standing behind her.

"Sorry, I didn't meant to make you jump." Daisy stood with her hands by her side, surveying the room. She didn't need a weapon. She was a weapon.

"Don't worry about it" Bobbi let out the breath she was holding, "Did you find anything?"

Daisy brushed dust off of the sleeve of her suit. "Besides a lot of dust? Not much. Whoever all this stuff belongs to hasn't been here in a while."

"Who told Lincoln about this place anyway?"

"All he'd tell me was someone he'd known for a long time. I think whoever it was does't want to put themselves in danger and I don't blame them. And if protecting their identity means they feel safe enough to keep sending us information like this then I'm all for it."

Bobbi didn't look convinced. "It doesn't bother you that he's keeping secrets from you? It used to piss me off no end when Hunter..."

Now it was Daisy's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Used to?"

Bobbi stopped. "Alright, you have a point."

"No, I trust him. Besides we said we wouldn't let the job get in the way of... You know. Us"

There were so many things Bobbi wanted to say to Daisy, so many warnings she wanted to impart to the younger agent, but she bit her tongue. It wasn't her place. Just because her marriage to Hunter went wrong the first time didn't mean that all work based romances had to go the same way. Besides, her relationship was back on track now, wasn't it? At least it was until... Instead, all she said to Daisy was "Good luck" and walked back over to the rest of the team.

It took a few hours, but eventually they had cleared most of the books and equipment out of the room and loaded it onto the jet for transportation. Bobbi was sitting on a chair packing the last few leather-bound books into a box, when Hunter came up behind her and planted a kiss on her head. She twisted around to look at him. "See, that wasn't so bad was it? I told you it would be an easy one."

"You've jinxed it now."

"Relax. I'm fine." She put down the book she had been holding and reached up to cup Hunter's face. He shifted the weight of the box he was holding to a more comfortable position. "It's still early, perhaps we could..." She trailed off and shot a glance towards Lincoln and Daisy, who were deep in conversation and probably not listening to her but she wasn't taking any chances. "Could go do the thing."

Hunter understood and smiled his shy subtle smile. Bobbi's heart did a flip. He looked so gentle and sweet at that moment, his eyes full of nothing but concern for her, she was touched. She knew the other side to him too, all the things that drove her mad and all the things that made him great at his job, the ruthlessness, the single-mindedness. But it was not what she saw in his eyes when he looked at her. She was scared, to tell the truth. She was falling for him again, if she hadn't already, and that was dangerous. He was bad for her in so many ways, made her lose focus and forget herself, and she knew from experience that pretty soon she may come to resent the affect Hunter had on her. But if they were going to figure out how to deal with their current problem, she was going to have to learn to forget the bigger picture and only look towards the next step, incase the bigger picture overwhelmed her. And that was far more dangerous than anything Hunter could do.

"I'll see you outside" Hunter said, "This weighs a tonne. I'll come back for that" Lance indicated the box by Bobbi's feet. "Don't you dare try and carry it."

Hunter had only been out of the room a moment when Bobbi sensed a change in the atmosphere of the room. She looked towards Daisy and Lincoln, and from the way their eyes scanned the room, she knew they felt it too.

"What was that?" she asked uncertainly, standing up. "Is someone here?"

The three of them were instantly on guard, but although their bodies sensed a presence, there was nothing to see. They moved towards each other to the centre of the floor, assuming a battle stance. Bobbi drew her gun and Lincoln and Daisy raised their hands, ready to attack should the need arise.

A breeze blew through the room, even though the window was bolted shut, and the loose pages sitting on top of the desk fluttered to the floor. Wordlessly, Bobbi and Daisy exchanged glances. Bobbi opened her mouth to say something but there wasn't time. There was a loud, strange crack, a bright light, and the next thing Bobbi knew she was flying through the air. She hit the far wall with a thud, then nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

_I currently have 10 (and a half!) chapters of this fic written. Here's another instalment! I'm using it to fill the gaping void left in the wake of Most Wanted being cancelled before it begun. Sob._

_I have grand plans for this fic, I hope I can see them through!_

Chapter 2

Hunter heard the explosion from the street and dropped the box where he stood. Ignoring May's calls after him, he bolted up the stairs two at a time, his mind racing. Each scenario that entered his head, however fleeting, was more horrible than the one before, but each time he came back to that moment. The sound of the gun, the splatter of her blood on his face, and the look of shear terror in her eyes as the bullet ripped through her shoulder.

That moment showed Hunter what life could be like without her. It introduced to him the notion that everything could be ripped away in a second and it had been the single worst moment of his life to date. He was dimly aware of May ascending the stairs behind him, calling his name, but all he could focus on was reaching Bobbi.

He reached the first landing and looked up to the storey above, towards the room he'd left only a minute ago. He expected to see smoke, debris, something, but everything looked normal. In the pit of his stomach, Hunter knew that was not a good thing. His pause allowed May to catch up to him and she lay a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, we don't know what happened."

He shrugged it off. He didn't want to listen to reason, he only wanted to make sure Bobbi was ok. He continued to run up the next flight of stairs. He reached the large wooden door and frantically pulled at the handle. The door that had been ajar when they arrived a couple of hours ago was now stuck fast. He rammed his shoulder against it, but it wouldn't budge. Trying to kick it in didn't help either. "Bobbi!"

...

When Bobbi came to and opened her eyes, she thought for a second the blow to her head had blurred her vision, but then she coughed and realised the room was full of smoke. Her ears were ringing and her limbs felt like lead. She turned her head to the side with some effort and saw Lincoln and Daisy sitting by the closed door, Lincoln with his sleeve pressed onto his bleeding forehead and Daisy trying to take a look at the wound.

She wondered how long she had been unconscious. Smoke still hung in the air but all the paper and debris seemed to have settled. She had been pulled onto the rug in the middle of the floor, and a jacket had been placed behind her head. There had been some kind of explosion, she knew that much. Did she remember someone else being in the room? She wasn't sure. She studied Daisy and Lincoln for a moment. They looked somewhat exasperated, as if they had been trying in vain to pull open the door and had slumped to the floor in defeat. There was no other explanation as to why they were still in the study or why the rest of the team were not in there too. Hunter would be by her side in a flash given half the chance.

There was a dull thud coming from the other side of the door. Clearly someone hadn't stopped trying to get in, and she suspected she knew who that someone was. The thought brought a smile to her face, then a second later she gasped, bringing a hand to her stomach. The reaction was so instinctive she didn't even thing about what she was doing. She felt alright. She thought. Taking a deep breath, her hand fell back down to her side.

At that moment, Daisy looked around. "Hey, you're awake." She left Lincoln and stood up, making her way over to where Bobbi lay.

Bobbi brought a hand up to her face and rubbed her eyes, groaning. "Yes. What happened?"

"We don't know exactly" Daisy admitted. "There was a weird energy in the room. You felt it right?" Bobbi nodded. "Then an explosion that knocked us all off our feet. Are you ok?"

"I think so" Bobbi said, but there was a slight wobble to her voice that she hoped Daisy didn't pick up on. "I'll live" she said, making an effort to sound more sure.

Daisy continued. "The door and windows are sealed shut, we can't get out and the team can't get in. It's as if the room is trying to protect itself from something, or protect the outside world from something inside. We found this" Daisy held up a square silver box, and Bobbi pulled herself up to a sitting position to have a look. "I didn't notice it before. I can't explain what it is but it must be important. We need to take it to the lab to have a proper look, that's if we ever manage to get out of here."

"How long was I out for?" Bobbi finally asked.

"About 10 minutes. Do you feel nauseous? You probably have concussion."

Bobbi groaned. "It wouldn't be the first time. I do have a splitting headache."

"That'll happen when you headbutt brick." Daisy smiled. "Lie back down, we're working on getting out, just relax."

"What if that thing comes back?"

"Then I'll deal with it."

The smoke was beginning to clear. Daisy went back over to Lincoln and there was another thud at the door. Bobbi glanced at the strange box on the floor with curiosity. Was it her imagination, or was the smoke being drawn to it? She took Daisy's advice and lay back down with a sigh. Thinking hurt too much.

...

It was about 30 minutes later when the door finally gave way to Hunter's shoulder and it flew open, hitting the wall with a bang. He looked a bit shocked that it had actually worked, but recovered himself quickly and went to Bobbi, crouching down on the floor beside her.

"Bobbi, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Hunter, really. I was unconscious for a second and I have a wicked headache, but apart from that..." She could see in his eyes that he wasn't convinced, and knew exactly what he meant. She sat up with some help from him, and looked him straight in the eyes. "It's ok."

Daisy was already helping Lincoln out of the door, she saw Mack take his other arm and lead him slowly to the top of the staircase. She and Hunter were alone. "I'm taking you to hospital."

"And how are we going to make an excuse to get away?"

"I don't bloody care" Hunter said, a little too loudly, his trademark stubbornness coming to the surface. "It doesn't mater. We need to check the baby is alright."

Bobbi simply nodded. His concern was touching. For now she would gloss over the implications of them both being so concerned about a baby that they hadn't totally decided they were going to keep. One step at a time.

Coulson came in then, just as Hunter helped her to her feet. Their boss looked worried, but relaxed a little when he saw she was walking and talking. "Are you ok Bobbi?"

"Yes, I'm ok. Do we know what happened? It was strange..."

"Don't worry about it. We need to get you back to base to have you checked out."

...

In the waiting room of the Emergency Department, chaos reigned, but Bobbi was thankful it was a normal kind of chaos, hacking coughs and screaming infants, and not the kind of chaos she was used to on a daily basis. Invisible assailants, explosions, that kind of thing. She wasn't sure how Hunter had convinced Coulson to let them come to a regular hospital but she was thankful, even if he was currently making a scene.

They stood side by side at the admin desk, Hunter had his hands placed firmly on the counter top and a look of determination on his face. She pitied the poor young nurse who was on the receiving end of his wrath. "Can you please tell me how long this is going to take?" he asked loudly. Well, thought Bobbi, at least he said please. The poor girl didn't know what to do, she glanced around nervously for some backup.

A doctor in a lab coat noticed the ruckus and strolled over to lend a hand, replacing his stethoscope around his neck. He laid a hand gently on the nurse's shoulder and she scuttled away. "What seems to be the problem?"

"You're all bloody useless, that's what's the problem!"

Bobbi placed her hand on Hunter's chest, cutting him off, and addressed the doctor. "What he meant to say was, how long until we get seen Doctor... Spencer?" she read the name embroidered on his lab coat.

"Is it an emergency?"

"Yes, it's an emergency!" Hunter was off again. "My wife is pregnant and took a fall, we need to make sure everything's ok! Are you going to help us or what?"

Bobbi shot a quick but subtle sideways glance to Hunter. Wow, it had been a long long time since she had heard those two words coming from Hunter's mouth without an 'ex' in between them. She was taken aback, but dismissed the thought quickly. She focussed on the doctor.

The doctor's brow furrowed, and he glanced at Bobbi. "How far along are you?"

Bobbi stepped in front of Lance, leaving him to quietly seethe behind her. He was like a child sometimes, throwing his weight around to get what he wanted. "I don't exactly know, I only found out a couple of days ago."

A little later, Bobbi and Hunter were alone in a curtained off area waiting for the doctor to return. She wanted to chastise Hunter for being rude to the hospital staff, but she knew that he only did it because he was worried about her. Fighting, either physically, or in this case verbally, was what he did to relieve tension. But the other thing... That she would deal with.

"You called me your wife" Bobbi said, hopping up on the gurney.

Hunter was chewing his fingers nervously. "It just slipped out."

"And 'took a fall'? You make it sound like I'm eighty." There was playfulness in her voice, but Hunter still looked annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry." His voice dripped with sarcasm but all the aggression was gone. "Would you have preferred I went with 'got thrown against a wall and knocked unconscious by an explosion caused by an invisible alien.'?"

"You could have just said 'fell over'."

Hunter took hold of her hands. "I'm just worried about you."

Bobbi smiled. "I know."

The curtain was pulled back and the doctor re-entered. "I couldn't seem to locate your records Mrs..."

"Turner" Bobbi said. "Sara Turner." She'd plucked the first undercover codename she'd used from the air, and was sticking to it. "We're from out of town, we're just passing through."

"We'll need you to fill out one of these patient forms..."

Hunter cut in. "Will that be necessary? Can you please just do the ultrasound so we can go?"

Reluctantly, after some persuading, the doctor agreed, only after Hunter had given him one of S.H.I.E.L.D's bank account details for the bill. Bobbi made a mental note to try and explain away that charge when it appeared on the statement, but for now she had other things on her mind.

Dr Spencer nodded at Lance, and turned his attention to Bobbi. "Any pain?"

"Only my head" she admitted, "not my belly."

"Did you lose consciousness?"

"Yes." No big deal, Bobbi thought, but instead she said "I feel fine, really. Please just check the baby."

She surprised herself with the concern she felt for this thing inside her that was still only a cluster of cells. And yet it had brought out a protective side to Lance that she hadn't seen in a long time. Reacting to danger, rescuing her, even when she didn't need it, that she was used to. But this attentive, caring, gentle Lance, this was new.

Bobbi lay back on the bed and pulled up her shirt, eternally thankful that they had been on a recon and not a combat mission and she was wearing civilian clothing. That would have been hard to explain. She looked at Lance as he continued to bite his fingers and pace up and down the cubicle. "Will you relax" she said to him. "You're making me jittery."

"Nervous father-to-be eh?" Dr Spencer asked jovially, but Hunter shot him a warning look. Thankfully the doctor's attention was fixed on setting up the ultrasound machine and he didn't notice. Bobbi did however and mouthed 'be nice' in Hunter's direction.

"This will be cold, sorry." Dr Spencer squeezed the clear gel onto Bobbi's belly and she flinched slightly at the coldness.

Wow. This was real then. She stared at her stomach in thought, struggling to imagine that there was an actual living thing in there. To Bobbi, this was even more bizarre than the fact that she had earlier been knocked unconscious by an invisible assailant, and she had the presence of mind to appreciate how ridiculous that was. But their lives were ridiculous. Dangerous and ridiculous. There was no way that introducing a child into the mix was even a remotely good idea, and yet...

She was pulled from her internal monologue by a strange sound and looked up to see Hunter grinning at the ultrasound screen.

"There's your baby's heartbeat" said the doctor. Bobbi could tell from the amused look on his face that the look on her own face was one of shock. Hunter squeezed her hand. She turned her head to look at the screen herself and saw a wriggling grey shadow move on the screen. That was the baby. Their baby.

"It's a feisty one" the doctor said, "there's a lot of movement going on in there. But everything looks fine."

"How far along am I?" she recovered her senses enough to speak words.

Dr Spencer studied the screen more closely. "I'd say about 8 weeks."

"So it was the tequila!"

That comment earned Hunter a sharp jab to the ribs.

...

The doctor wanted to keep her in for observation for her concussion but of course Bobbi wasn't having it. "Don't worry doc, I won't let her out of my sight" Hunter had assured him. She had signed out AMA and they were currently waiting to be picked up and taken back to base.

It felt exciting, these feelings coming back. The butterflies that had resided in her stomach all those years ago in the first few weeks and months she'd known Hunter were back. It scared her, and warmed her at the same time, knowing she was opening herself up to him again, and he to her. They were wiser now, Bobbi thought, they'd learnt their lesson and their relationship wouldn't implode this time. She hoped.

Bobbi leant over the railing, staring out at the river. She could hear Hunter on the phone a few metres away trying his best not to yell at whoever was on the other end of the line. She sighed. They may be older, and wiser, but some things never changed. Hunter wouldn't change, and neither would she. But maybe, just maybe, if they really tried, it could work this time.

Was she crazy? Probably. Sensible? Not at this moment. But it suddenly felt right, and she was filled with a nervous giddy energy. She took a deep breath and walked over to Hunter.

"I don't bloody care what's going on" Hunter raised his voice, and a couple of women who were walking by turned their heads as they passed. "You come right now and pick us up. Whatever's going on you need us there, 2 hours is not bloody good enough!"

Bobbi reached him and placed a hand on his arm. "Hunter..."

"No, I won't hold on, we need... No, you listen!"

Bobbi manoeuvred so she was facing Hunter, and tried to make eye contact. She knew that Hunter was transferring his worries and insecurities into annoyance at whoever was on the receiving end of his rant. "Don't worry about it" she whispered, and Hunter looked at her apologetically but continued to raise his voice. "Hunter, we can wait a couple of hours, it's no big deal."

"Fine!" he shouted into the phone, and angrily hung up.

"Was that necessary?" Bobbi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably not" Hunter conceded, his anger deflated.

"It's a beautiful day, I'm in no hurry to get back to base. We need to discuss this."

"But really, 2 hours? What if we were in danger." Hunter was getting wound up again, it took a lot of strength for Bobbi not to snap back.

"We're not in danger Hunter. Can we please go and talk? I've decided..."

"They're all so bloody useless sometimes. I tell you, if I was in charge..."

"Hunter, will you shut up for one minute! I'm trying to tell you I want to keep this baby!"

He stopped mid sentence and stared at Bobbi with a look of shock on his face. "You what?"

"I want this baby." she repeated. "I know it's stupid and crazy and god knows how we're going to make it work, but I want to try." Hunter still stared at her, not saying a word. "Hunter, say something" Bobbi prodded. "Don't tell me you've changed your mind." Even though he hadn't said it in so many words, Bobbi had known from the moment she told him that that's what he wanted, and she didn't think it was presumptuous to say it out loud.

Lance snapped out of it. "I'm sorry. Yes. I mean no, I've not changed my mind." He stumbled over his words but then stopped mid sentence when a huge grin spread across his face. "We're having a baby" he said.

"Yes." Bobbi's voice wavered just slightly when she said that word aloud, but the look in her eye showed she was sure. She mirrored Hunter's smile. "We've having a baby."

Hunter wrapped his arms around Bobbi with force and lifted her off the ground. She laughed, and as he lowered her back onto the pavement he planted a firm, passionate kiss on Bobbi's lips, in full view of everyone walking along the pier. Bobbi didn't care. In that moment, there was only the two of them in the whole world.

The three of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"This is insane."

"You said that this morning."

"Yeah, well, it hasn't got any less insane since then."

Bobbi lay on her back on the grass staring up at the blue cloudless sky through the branches of a tree. Hunter lay by her side. Between them, their fingers were entwined. The park a few blocks from the hospital was filled with people, children and dogs ran around and joggers filled the paths. But this spot was quiet. The two of them went there to talk while they waited to be picked up but so far their conversation had consisted of only a few disjointed sentences and plenty of sarcasm.

Bobbi turned her head to look at Hunter. "Are we nuts? Can we do this?"

"I hope so Bob" was Hunter's honest reply. "We're committed now." He heard Bobbi take a deep breath but didn't look over. He gave her hand a squeeze. He wasn't going to lie too her, he liked to think they were way past that. "Look, it's not going to be easy, you know that. But yeah, I think we can do anything we set our minds to. But right now, can we just lie here staring at the sky and not think for a bit?"

Bobbi moved closer to Hunter and put her head on his chest. Not thinking sounded very appealing, but she seriously doubted her mind's ability to stop. How were they going to do this? What would they tell the team? Where were they going to live, for goodness sake, and what would they do for work? Bobbi had been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent so long, it was all she really knew, all she was good at. But that would have to change now, it was too dangerous.

"What are we going to tell Coulson?" Bobbi wondered aloud.

Hunter looked down at the top of Bobbi's head. "I thought you didn't want anyone to know?"

"I don't. But I can't carry on doing the kind of jobs I've been doing, the kind of missions..." Bobbi trailed off. "And you, what if something happens to you? I can't..."

"Hey, slow down. Nothing's going to happen to me." Hunter stroked her hair. "One step at a time. For now we'll just say the doctors told you to take it easy. It isn't a lie."

"For 6 months?"

Bobbi's rhetorical question went unanswered. "Are you ready to tell the team yet?" Hunter asked instead.

"No."

"Then we won't. Simple as." Hunter brought his hand up and stroked Bobbi's hair. "We'll think of something, we always do."

Bobbi propped herself up on one elbow and moved so she could look Hunter in the face. "You're being surprisingly non-argumentative today. With me at least. I don't like it, it's unnerving." Bobbi smiled.

"Don't get used to it, love. I'm sure normal service will resume shortly."

Bobbi smiled. "That's better."

\----------

The ride back to base had been a quiet one, both of them needing some time alone with their own thoughts. But now, despite what Bobbi had said about trusting her, Hunter couldn't help wanting to know where she was every minute, wanting to know she was safe. The 30 minutes or so they'd been out of each other's sight was more than enough. God knew, Bobbi could take care of herself. She'd saved his arse on more than one occasion. Kicked it too. But even though logically he knew she could handle herself, the image of her bleeding and in pain in his arms had been flashing through his mind all day, ever since their life changing conversation over coffee this morning.

Passing the lab, Hunter was brought of of his thoughts when he heard the exasperated voices coming from within.

Simmons threw her hands up and backed away from the microscope. "It's just a box!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "A heavy, solid, silver box."

Fitz looked over from his computer screen where he was analysing sample readings. "When is anything around here ever 'just a box'?"

Simmons sighed and sat down beside him. "It's bizarre. You'd think there would be something to go on. A trace of particles in the air, or something from the swabs" she pointed half heartedly in the direction the object sitting on the counter. "We've analysed every inch of that room and nothing."

"We'll figure it out" said Fitz reassuringly, though he was feeling just as baffled.

"Any luck yet?" Hunter popped his head through the open glass door.

"No" Simmons said, louder and harsher than she intended. She took a deep breath. "Sorry. It's frustrating."

"Have you seen Bobbi?"

Fitz flashed him an apologetic smile. "Try the gym."

\----------

Fresh from her run, Bobbi passed Mack in the corridor, but she had walked at least 5 metres past him before she realised he was calling her name. "Sorry" she said, turning back round. "I was miles away."

He came to her side. "Coulson wants to ask you some questions about the mission today, Fitz and Simmons are having a hard time piecing together events."

"I was unconscious for most of it. I'm not sure how much help can be."

"How are you feeling?" Mack asked, gently placing his hand on Bobbi's arm.

"I feel great". Bobbi found that her answer which had formed in her mind as a lie to cover up what was going on was actually the truth. "My headache's gone completely."

Mack studied her for a moment. "You seem distracted." Bobbi offered him a smile which she hoped would allay his suspicions and divert his line of questioning. Instead he continued "Is everything okay with you and Hunter? I've seen you two whispering..."

Bobbi shouldn't have been surprised Mack had noticed. They were all spies after all. "Absolutely."

Mack did not look convinced. "Okay... But I know how things go with the two of you." Mack stopped himself, realising that his question was inching over the line of concerned colleague into the realms of gossip. "I'm just saying, if you need to talk to me I'm here."

"Thank you" Bobbi replied, feeling guilty. There was a time when Mack was her go to guy for everything, both personal troubles and work troubles. When she and Hunter fell apart the first time it was he and Isabelle Hartley that had been there for her. Since Isabelle was gone, Mack should have been the one she went to but things had been so crazy she'd neglected their bond. "I mean it Mack. Everything with Lance is perfect." She paused. "As perfect as things can ever be with us anyway. Are you ok?"

Mack nodded. "Keeping busy, nothing to report." He had never been one to talk about anything personal, but Bobbi could tell he appreciated his concern.

"Where are they? Coulson and Fitz and Simmons I mean."

"The lab."

"Ok, I'll just grab a shower..."

At that moment, Bobbi saw Lance come around the corner and even before he had set eyes on her, she knew she was in for an ear full.

Mack and Bobbi made eye contact before he made a hasty retreat. "I'll see you later."

"What are you doing?" Lance clocked her gym clothes and the towel slung around her neck and asked the loaded question with a distinct hint of disapproval in his voice.

"Right now, heading the the shower." Hunter stood in front of her with his arms folded, waiting for more. "I've been in the gym. Running helps me clear my head."

"You have concussion, Bob. And the baby..."

"Shh" Bobbi said, hushing him in case anyone was within earshot. "Relax, I'm being careful. I just had all this energy, I was going crazy."

"I think you should take it easy today at least."

"Lance, I feel great. I promise. I know you want to take care of me but if you try to wrap me in cotton wool for this entire pregnancy that will drive me crazy."

Hunter relented. Bobbi had always been fiercely and annoyingly independent, he should have guessed she wouldn't put up with being mollycoddled. But he also knew how stubborn she could be, if she wasn't feeling okay would she admit it? This is where the trust came in, he supposed. They were still finding each other again, learning how the other had changed and rediscovering how they fitted together. He needed to know when she wasn't ok, but he would just have to be stealthier about it than asking her outright every five minutes. Because that would piss Bobbi off, that much he knew.

"The only reason the doctor let you leave is because I said I'd keep an eye on you. Don't make me break my word to a medical professional." A glint flashed in Hunter's eye. "I'm more than happy to watch you shower."

Despite her annoyance, Bobbi smirked. "You can get that thought out of your head right now" she said as a warning, but the effect was lost somewhat as it was clear she didn't completely mean it. "I have to go and see Coulson in the lab first anyway."

"I'm coming" Hunter said. It wasn't a question.

Bobbi didn't bother arguing, she knew it would do no good. "Fine. But stay out of the way."

\----------

Simmons shined a torch in Bobbi's eyes then jotted something down on her notepad.

"I got checked out at the hospital" Bobbi protested, "they gave me the all clear." That wasn't exactly true, but Bobbi didn't want them to start running tests and asking questions.

"Just being thorough" Jemma said with a smile.

Coulson interjected. "Did you see anything before the blast?"

"Not see" Bobbi tried to search for the words. "It was more of a feeling. Like there was someone else in the room. A presence." Bobbi cringed at that last word, it sounded so hokey.

"Do you think that thing... Whatever it was... was inhuman?"

Hunter sat on a stool at the next work bench. He'd promised to keep out the way but wasn't doing a very good job.

"It wouldn't be wise to jump to conclusions" Coulson said, looking over at him. "But given where we were and what we were retrieving, I think it's a safe assumption to make."

Simmons interjected. "But I've already checked over Daisy and Lincoln, and whatever was released into the air by the explosion doesn't seem to have had any ill effects on any of you." She faced Bobbi. "You will let me know if you experience any odd side effects?"

"Absolutely."

Hunter could tell from her slight hesitation that she was lying but bit his tongue.

"Great. Well, Fitz and I will continue running tests and will let you all know if we find anything."

As they walked out of the lab, Hunter laid a hand on Bobbi's back and she stopped to face him. "Even if you won't tell Simmons if anything weird happens, I hope you'll tell me" Hunter said matter of factly, searching Bobbi's face for any sign that she might not be telling the truth. "Not that I don't trust you" he added hastily, "I'm just making sure."

"Hunter" Bobbi started, and he braced himself for a tirade. But she only said "I'll tell you." She took a deep breath, trying to find the words, then added in a hushed tone "I am just not ready to tell everyone about the baby, and to be completely honest with Simmons, I would have to do that. That's all. You have to stop being so paranoid."

"It's bloody hard" Hunter said, evidently relieved. "I know what you're like, unwilling to show weakness... But it's me. You can show weakness in front of me."

"Can stop being so serious now. It's unnerving me. I'm fine, we're fine, everything's fine. People will begin to get suspicious if they see you being so nice to me." She smiled a quiet smile, and the atmosphere immediately lightened. "I'll see you later, I have to change. And no you may not watch!" Bobbi silenced Hunter's objections with a quick kiss. "I'll see you at dinner. Mack's cooking."

\----------

"Come on May, have some wine."

Melinda waved away the bottle that Daisy was holding over her glass. "No, thank you. I have an early start tomorrow."

"That's just not good enough." Coulson took the wine out of Daisy's hand and poured the dark red liquid into May's glass. "We've all had a long and bizarre day. Just relax. That's an order."

Bobbi watched Coulson fill May's glass despite her protests. She watched Daisy take her seat besides Lincoln and smile as he whispered something in her ear. She watched Fitz and Mack share a joke, and Simmons asking Joey to pass the water. She was sitting around the table sharing a meal with her team, her team who she had spent more time with than her own family, had gone through more with than any group of people should ever go through, and yet she felt as though she was watching them as an outsider.

She blinked. Coulson was saying something to her.

"Wine, Bobbi?"

Hunter took a swig of his beer and reach a hand to cover Bobbi's empty glass. "No. Not with concussion."

Coulson poured himself a glass then set the wine back on the table, turning to May to say something.

"Thank you for covering for me" Bobbi whispered to Hunter.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"I think I'll call it a night." Bobbi put her napkin on the table and slid her chair back, standing up. "Thank you for dinner Mack, it was delicious. Good night everybody." She turned to go, but bent down to whisper to Hunter. "Are you coming?"

Hunter did not need to be asked twice.

Later on, entwined in Hunter's arms, listening to him quietly breathing, Bobbi lay awake. Something was off, and it was more than the shock of finding out about the pregnancy and more than the stress of keeping it secret. She was a spy, she kept secrets all the time. It wasn't even the fact that she'd spent a portion of the day unconscious. It was something indefinable. She wrapped the covers around herself and the movement caused Hunter to shift slightly in the bed. He hugged her tighter in his sleep. There was nowhere Bobbi felt safer in this world than in Hunter's arms. Even when their marriage was falling apart, when their arguments were at their worst, she never once felt unsafe in his presence.

Was it the anxiety of opening herself up to Hunter again? She didn't think so. It was more physical, the uneasy feeling she had, although she felt perfectly well. That, she realised, was the problem. Bobbi Morse had been battered and bruised and knocked unconscious enough times to know that it took longer than one afternoon to recover. Sure, she pushed through minor injuries all the time, the job demanded it. But this was different. She had no injuries.

And in a flash, she knew that was it. Her headache was gone. She reached to the back of her head, where she'd grazed her scalp on impact, and felt her wrist that she'd sprained when she hit the floor.

Bobbi carefully disentangled herself from Hunter's arms and made her way to the bathroom. She closed the door and switched on the light, squinting as the brightness flooded her eyes. She splashed water on her face and starred at her reflection in the mirror, willing her thoughts to organise themselves into some semblance of sense. Her gaze drifted down to her left shoulder, and with a jolt she was wide awake.

A piece of metal had ripped through her flesh and left her fighting for her life, and yet she looked at the spot where the bullet had left her body and there was no trace. Her scar was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bobbi stood in the bathroom, staring down at her hands with only the small light by the mirror to illuminate them. It was a little after 3am. Hunter was asleep in her bed on the other side of the door and she didn't want to risk waking him by turning on the main light. She held a small pair of scissors in one hand and took a deep breath to brace herself. She had to be sure her suspicions were correct before she let her fears known to Hunter. Since she realised her scar had vanished days ago, she had thought of nothing else, walking around in a stupor and withdrawing from Hunter and the rest of the team.

She tentatively took up the scissors and pressed the pointy end of one blade into her finger, just enough to break the skin. She winced slightly at the pain and watched as a small droplet of blood pooled on the tip of her index finger for a moment, but when she wiped it away the skin was unbroken. Next she pushed the blade into her palm, drawing a line from middle finger to wrist. Again, her hand bled as she cut it, but she watched in amazement as almost immediately the skin bonded together and left no trace of what she had done. She stood up and turned on the water, washing her hand and the scissors and watching the small amount of blood disappear down the drain.

She put the scissors down on the basin and looked up into the mirror. What now? She placed her hands on her belly. "What's going on baby? I hope you're ok in there. I'll figure it out, I promise."

\- - - - - - - - - -

Hunter awoke and wasn't surprised to find that Bobbi was not beside him. His outstretched arm found nothing but crumpled covers and he sighed before even opening his eyes. These past few days a change had come over her. Hunter was apprehensive about asking why for fear that she would retreat further but part of him had been waiting for this to happen. Sooner or later she would get cold feet about the future they were both hurtling towards and push him away. He realised that thought had been lurking at the back of his mind ever since she had told him she was pregnant. Hunter had hoped he'd been wrong.

It had lasted one day, their togetherness. And while Bobbi was not exactly lying to him, he could feel her withholding something important that he should know. Every night for a week, since that day, they had fallen asleep in the same bed in each others arms, and every morning Lance had woken up alone. If they were in his room, he'd sneak to Bobbi's and find her in her own bed, or if they'd been in her bed, he'd find her in the kitchen or the gym or the lab pretending that she wasn't avoiding him. Was he just being paranoid? Perhaps, but Hunter had a sixth sense when it came to his relationship with Bobbi. Something was wrong, he knew it.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled on tracksuit pants and a t-shirt. He caught sight of the clock and groaned. It was 9:30 already, he should have been up hours ago.

"Have you seen Bobbi?" he asked, bleary eyed, walking into the kitchen.

May looked up from the page she was reading over the top of her cereal. "She didn't wake you? She's gone with Coulson, Daisy and Simmons back to the office where we recovered the files." Hunter's wide-eyed expression made her put down her spoon and sit up straight. "Coulson needed a pilot, I was in a meeting with Mack."

Hunter threw his hands in the air and shook his head. Stupid. And dangerous. What was she thinking? The place where she'd been knocked unconscious and scared him half to death, the perfect place for a team excursion. "Unbelievable." Hunter thought he'd muttered that too quietly for anyone to hear but apparently not.

"She said you'd freak out." Lincoln put down his mug. "She also said you needed to stop worrying so much."

Hunter shot him a look. "Who asked you?"

"They will only be a couple of hours."

Perfect. A couple of hours for him to drive himself crazy with worry.

Lincoln shrugged at the look on Hunter's face. "Coffee?"

"No. If you need me I'll be taking my frustration with my ex-wife on a punching bag."

The punching bag took a beating. Hunter stopped, panting, and stepped away from the swinging bag. He bent forward, his hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath. This is what she drove him to, taking out his anger on inanimate objects so he wouldn't take it out on her and say something he might regret. What was he thinking, getting himself into all this again? Except he couldn't imagine a life where Bobbi wasn't there to drive him crazy. And he didn't want to, either. He couldn't live without her and saw no reason to. It was as simple as that and his head had been a lot clearer since he had stopped trying to fight it.

He stood up straight and rammed his fist into the punching bag one more time. Just because it was an inescapable fact didn't make it easy. Hunter wiped his brow with a towel and picked up his phone. He'd calmed down, but not much. He'd probably regret this. He hit speed dial 1, it began to ring.

\- - - - - - - - - -

After Bobbi had stared at herself in the mirror she had shut off the bathroom light and crawled back into bed beside Hunter, but she couldn't get back to sleep. She had left the bed and retreated to the living room before Hunter had woken up. She wasn't proud of it, but she was doing what she always did, what she promised she wouldn't do any more. She was running away.

Bobbi Morse was not one to panic, and she now gripped the controls of the Quin Jet furiously. Furious at herself for being so weak, furious at the situation, furious at Hunter when he was there, and furious with him when he wasn't. She didn't know what she wanted and that drove her crazy. Bobbi Morse was not driven crazy easily. She was calm and cold and steady under pressure. People died if she wasn't, but right now she was failing at being the Bobbi Morse everyone expected.

Logic told her she should run to Simmons or Coulson and tell them something was wrong. She could be in real danger, her baby could be in danger, and yet here she was in a daze, unable to act. Flying a plane in a daze, another reason why she was an idiot.

She had to snap out of it.

Her phone buzzed on the dash and she looked at the display. Hunter. Obviously. She would have hung up but he'd just keep ringing until she answered so it was pointless. She leaned over and hit 'accept' and the bluetooth to her headset kicked in. Before Bobbi had opened her mouth to speak Hunter's angry voice filled her ears.

"Bobbi, what the hell are you doing?"

"Morning Hunter."

"You just left without waking me up? To go back there? I know you're avoiding me but that's just..." She heard Hunter take a deep breath, searching for the words. "I won't let you do this again. Push me away." He lowered his voice. "We're having a baby Bob, it isn't just about you or us anymore. If something is going on, if something is wrong, I have a right to know what it is."

"Hunter, listen. Now is not the time." Bobbi looked at the navigational dial, they were nearly at their destination.

"When you get back here we're going to sit down and you're going to tell me what the bloody hell is going on."

"Bye Hunter."

The minute she hung up she regretted leaving it that way. She wasn't pissed at Hunter but it sounded that way. He'd spend the next few hours at the base quietly seething over a beer or a scotch or hitting a punchbag in a rage and that was not productive for anyone. The way she was acting wasn't fair to him, she knew that. She had to get her head straight and apologise to him before she drove a wedge between them just when things were getting good.

She was scared, but she couldn't let herself be scared. She had to be prepared to deal with whatever was going to happen. Living in ignorance wasn't going to change anything, it would probably make it worse. Perhaps these few hours would be good, she could spend the time trying to figure out what the hell she was going to say to Hunter.

"Coulson" she said over her shoulder, "we're here. Preparing for descent."

It took a good 20 minutes to get from the secluded landing spot to the office building, even with advanced cloaking technology it was not easy to find somewhere to land in the middle of a city. Bobbi stormed out ahead. She didn't really want company, but hiding away wasn't really an option. She had to find out what happened to her the last time she was in that room and find an explanation for what was happening to her now. Returning here was as good a place as any to start. She realised that enlisting Daisy and Jemma's help, one being a super-scientist and the other inhuman, would get her some answers faster, but it wasn't her style. She wasn't in any doubt that there was something inhuman going on with her, even if she hadn't been encased in rock and transformed, but Bobbi had never been very good at relying on others for help. Being with Lance again and being part of Coulson's team had softened her up somewhat, when she felt threatened her automatic response was to go back to what she knew. Namely, gathering intel and scoping out a threat alone.

While she walked, she ran through everything she already knew in her head. Something had happened in that room. There had been someone or something in there with her and Daisy and Lincoln. Was is there by accident, or was it looking for something? Or was it there for another purpose? Did it succeed, or had it been scared away? Why did the room seal itself? She was sure Fitz and Simmons had come up with many possible answers, but she knew something they didn't. Whatever had happened, whatever had been released by that explosion had affected her or the baby.

Bobbi planned to tell them, she did, but something was stopping her. She realised, with a sudden jolt that stopped her in her tracks, that she didn't trust her team not to turn her into some kind of experiment. She thought back to the way they had treated Daisy after her transformation, herself included, and how no one yet fully trusted Lincoln or Joey not to be a danger. No, until she had a better understanding of what was happening Bobbi vowed to keep her cards close to her chest.

At the door to the building Bobbi stopped and waited for the others.

"Jeez , Agent Morse." Coulson stopped by her side to catch his breath. "Why the hurry?"

Bobbi mumbled an apology. When Jemma and Daisy had caught up, they went inside and ascended the stairs together. The door to the room was ajar, and Bobbi gingerly pushed it open.

She froze. A figure stood in the far corner with its back to the door and it whipped its head around at the sound of their approach. The being was tall and slender with long limbs, but its skin was bright white, and emitted a vague luminescence which made it hard for Bobbi to look at directly. There was a wide hood covering its head and two jet black eyes watched the four agents as they hovered on the threshold. Bobbi reached for her gun but before had even pulled it from the holster on her hip, the thing was a mere half metre from them.

Taken aback by the speed in which it had covered the room, Bobbi tried to turn to run, but a strange feeling washed over her and instead she took an involuntary step into the room.

"Agent Morse, pull back" Bobbi was vaguely aware of Coulson talking to her but his voice faded away. "Bobbi."

Bobbi's stomach gave a lurch and she knew instinctively that whatever it was making her disobey orders and step into likely danger was not her own doing, but the baby's. Beside her, Daisy had her arms, usually up and ready to fight, hanging passively by her sides. What the hell was going on?

She moved instinctively forwards, and was conscious of Daisy beside her doing the same. IT was as if she had no control over her movements, but was completely aware of her actions. He eyes alert, she looked around, catching sight of Coulson and Simmons looking on in bewilderment. A glance sideways to Daisy told her that the younger agent was not as self aware. Her eyes looked glazed, utterly fixated on the creature, who returned her gaze with intensity, as if studying everything about her. It reached out a bony hand when Daisy was within it's reach, and touched her on the arm. It's eyes closed. Bobbi was sure it was absorbing information from Daisy.

Fear gripped Bobbi when it opened its eyes and switched it's attention to her. The minute it released it's touch on Daisy she slumped to the floor, unconscious but breathing normally as if she had just fainted.

Bobbi took another step, so did the figure, but when it began to focus on her, a change came over its face. Bobbi realised, whether from observation or a strange kind of telepathy, that what she saw in those dark black eyes was a mix of confusion and fear. She closed her eyes and braced herself, ready for the touch of the white glowing hand, but it didn't come, and the next sound she heard was a loud crack and the being was gone.

Her limbs felt heavy and he head felt light, but she managed to stay on her feet. Coulson and Simmons were already at Daisy's side trying to rouse her.

"Our tests can wait" Coulson said, looking up a Bobbi from where he crouched on the floor, "we need to get Daisy out of here. Perhaps back at the lab we can figure out what that thing was and what just happened."

Simmons looked up at that moment and her eyes met Bobbi's. The scientist must have seen something in Bobbi's eyes for she held her gaze for a beat longer and an unspoken question passed between them.

Back at the lab, Bobbi thought. It's time to ask for help.

\- - - - - - - - - -

At the base, the jet engine's shut down. Hunter leaned on the balcony railings waiting for the team's return but hadn't expected them for at least an hour. Their early return made him apprehensive, and he hurried down the metal steps to the landing bay's floor.

The carrier door opened and Hunter readied himself for an argument. He wasn't going to let Bobbi evade his questions any longer. He folded his arms and stood stock still, intently watching the doors opening. Bobbi strode out first and clapped eyes on him when she reached the bottom of the ramp.

Hunter stepped forward to meet her. "You will talk to me Bobbi, I'm not going to let you push me away. It's too bloody important, we can't afford to..."

Bobbi silenced him with a kiss, forceful and tender at the same time. She took is hand, and when their lips parted she lay her forehead on Hunter's with a sigh.

"I'm sorry Lance" she said, her eyes closed. Hunter was taken aback by the change in her from yesterday, from this morning. Her whole body seemed deflated, resigned to a fate that Hunter didn't yet know, but he felt that whatever it was they could face if they just stuck together, and seeing Bobbi like this both gave him hope that that would happen and made him nervous, she had stopped fighting.

"What happened out there?" Hunter whispered.

Bobbi didn't reply straight away. It took a moment for her to open her eyes and pull away enough to look him in the face. "I'll tell you everything" she said, and Hunter really believed it. "But Daisy needs medical attention, help us get her off the jet."

Just like that, Bobbi was back to business. She released Hunter's hand and turned around, walking briskly back towards the plane. Hunter sighed and watched her go for a minute before jogging after her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“How’s Daisy?”

“She woke up 10 minutes ago and seems alright. That’s not stopping Fitzsimmons running every test they can think of though.”  
Hunter continued to pace, clearly not listening or caring much about what Bobbi had to say about Daisy. She hovered in the door way to the break room for watching him fidget and bite his fingers. 

“God Bobbi, please put me out of my misery. I’m tired of asking you what’s going on, what the matter is. I love you. I want to look after you, whether you like it or not. If you don’t trust me...”

“That’s not it.” Bobbi walked into the room and put both hands on Hunter’s shoulders to stop him pacing. “Look, there’s so much to say and I’m not even sure myself what is going on, but I promise...” Hunter made a noise and looked away disbelievingly. Bobbi couldn’t blame him for not believing the words ‘I promise’ coming out of her mouth, she had broken too many promises to him in her life, not least her wedding vows. But this time when she said those words she truly meant them. She turned Hunter’s face so their eyes could meet and gave him a look which she hoped conveyed just how serious she was. “Hey. I mean it. I promise I will tell you everything. But first I have to go and talk to Daisy and Simmons, and I think you should come too.”

She took his hand and led him from the room, down the corridor to where Daisy was resting. She pushed open the door and the two of them stepped inside.

“Hi Agent Morse.” Jemma looked up from her notes as Bobbi and Lance entered the room. “I’m hoping you can help shed some light on the situation today.”

“I hope I can too.” Bobbi faltered. She felt suddenly self conscious and was glad it was just the four of them in the room. “Where’s the rest of the team?” she said. “Where’s Coulson?” 

“Mack needed him for something, he just stepped out.” Daisy sat up in the bed she lay in.

“How are you feeling?” Bobbi asked, half out of concern and half because she was stalling.

“I’m a lot better now that Lincoln’s not fussing around. He’ll be back though, I’m sure.”

Bobbi turned to Jemma. “Have you got any new information?”

The scientist shook her head. “I wish I did, I didn’t have time to get any data today. I’ve been looking over the readings from last week but I’m still no closer to any answers. Fitz is running the samples again, who knows, maybe he’ll find something.” Simmons did not have a lot of hope in her voice.

“I think I can help with one thing...” Bobbi started, but trailed off. Now that she was free to say what she came here to say, she found herself lost for words. The half truth she had formed in her mind suddenly didn’t seem like the right thing to say. She knew she needed help, she was scared for the baby and for herself, but she was not good at opening up and instinct told her that there were certain things she had to keep secret from the agents standing before her.

“Did you feel it?” Daisy asked Bobbi, her words uncertain. “The pull. It’s like I was drawn to that thing and I couldn’t fight it. And then... It was as though he... it... was drawing something out of me.”

“Yes.” Bobbi was still trying to formulate her words in her mind. She didn’t elaborate.

“I didn’t feel anything” Simmons said.

Bobbi took a deep breath. It was time. She looked at Hunter as if she needed his strength, he looked back at her with only concern and confusion and she felt a sudden rush of affection for him. She didn’t take her eyes off him when she spoke. “What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room, okay?” She looked pointedly at Jemma then Daisy in front of her, then turned to look at Hunter. “Not even Coulson, I mean it. Especially not Coulson.”

She could see Simmons growing uneasy, and she shot a sideways glance at Daisy. “Ok” she agreed reluctantly, “but why?”

Bobbi paused, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy them. She knew she was asking a lot of them, to lie to their boss. She also knew that she hadn’t done a lot to earn their loyalty over Coulson, she just had to trust that they would keep their word. Finally, she said “Because I know what he’s like, he’ll put me on lockdown or something, I know it. And I need time and space to get my head around everything before he gets involved.”

“Bobbi, what’s wrong?” Daisy asked.

“I’m pregnant” Bobbi said. She waited a beat and the words hung in their air. “Look, the first time we went to that room, when we were trapped, something happened that I think it affected the baby. Something... Inhuman.”

“We didn’t find any evidence of inhuman activity” Jemma said, “We didn’t find much evidence of anything if I’m honest. Only that weird silver box, and we still can’t figure out what it is.”

“Is it possible that terogens were released into the air in the explosion?”

“What?” Beside her, Hunter started. 

“There was no trace of that...”

Bobbi cut Jemma off. “Were you looking?”

A realisation dawned on Simmons’ face. “You didn’t show any of the side effects that we’ve seen from contact with the mist and...”

“... The only other people in the room were me and Lincoln.” Daisy caught up with their exchange and was suddenly alert. 

“Right. The room sealed itself to prevent contamination outside, and unlocked itself when the threat was gone.”

Daisy nodded. “It would explain why that thing seemed so confused.” Daisy said this almost to herself, but when she was met with furrowed brows she clarified. “When it drew something from me, I got a glimpse into its mind too. It felt like it was encountering something it had never seen before. It threw it off its game, I think that’s when it broke the connection and I fainted.”

“So the presence you felt in the room the first time, that was something different?” Jemma asked.

Daisy and Bobbi looked at each other. “Yeah” Daisy said, “it didn’t feel the same.”

“Hold on” Hunter threw his hands up, “will you guys slow down.” He took hold of Bobbi’s arm. “Are you really saying you think our baby is inhuman?”

Bobbi nodded slowly. Hunter’s mind was reeling, she could see it in his face. “I’m so sorry Hunter. I’m sorry I didn’t...”

“I wish you would have told me sooner.” Hunter placed his hand on her back, unconsciously Bobbi thought, which made the gesture even more touching, like it was second nature to him now to try and protect her. “What happened today?”

“I felt drawn to the creature too, but it wasn’t me. I was thinking clearly but I didn’t have any control over my actions. When it looked at me I saw fear in its eyes. It sensed the baby, I’m sure of it.”

Simmons looked up from her tablet. “Agent Morse, did you know you were pregnant before the explosion?”

Bobbi paused “Yes. For about a day.” A small smile crept onto her lips and she sneaked a sideways glance at Hunter, but his focus was fixed on Simmons.

“Have you experienced any other side effects?”

Some deep rooted instinct inside Bobbi told her to lie. She realised in that moment that she didn’t completely trust her team and probably never would. She had a flash of premonition about what would happen if she told the truth. It would get back to Coulson eventually, she knew it would. And she knew that however good their intentions, she foresaw experiment after experiment being tested on her, and worse, the baby. No, they didn’t need to know the rest. All she wanted from them was confirmation of her suspicions, the rest she would try and work out for herself.

“No.” Bobbi tried to keep her voice steady as she voiced her one word lie. Years of lying for a living came in handy. “Not yet.”

Under his hand, Hunter felt Bobbi tense and he knew, from that tiny sign, that she was not being truthful. He stood beside Bobbi, he couldn’t see her face, instead he looked at his three colleagues in the room and tried to see what she saw, he tried to figure out why she would hold anything back.

Simmons was scrolling, he guessed, back through data collected from a week ago when this all started. Only Daisy watched Bobbi with something like concern. He focused on her, and was still watching her thoughtfully when she spoke.

“I’m sorry Bobbi. I don’t know how I can help yet, but I’ll try. We’ll figure this out” 

“We’ll leave you to rest” Jemma told Daisy. 

“You better let Lincoln come back in, he’s probably going crazy out there.”

All the while Hunter didn’t say a word, but now he took up Bobbi’s hand and pulled her towards the door.

“Hey guys” Daisy called, and they both spun back around. A smile spread across Daisy’s face. “Congratulations.”

Outside in the corridor, Simmons pulled Bobbi to one side. “Will you please let me take some blood from you? I know why you don’t want Coulson involved yet, I understand. But   
you need help.”

Bobbi nodded, conceding the point. “Promise me you’ll be discreet.”

“Of course.”

\- - - - - - - - - - 

“Dammit Bobbi, you said you wouldn’t lie to me” Once inside Bobbi’s room, he shut the door with a bang. “I thought we were over this.”

“Hunter, you have got to cool it.” Bobbi raised her voice, her anger rising despite herself.

“No, whatever you say about not needing my protection doesn’t alter the fact that I want to provide it. But if you’re hiding things from me then how can I?” Hunter closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, searching for the words. “This is my baby too. I have a right to know what’s going on.”

“I know you do.”

“Then why are you lying?” Bobbi opened her mouth to respond but Hunter pre-empted her words and held up a hand to stop her. “Lying by omission is still lying Bob.” He took a step across the room towards her but stopped, standing only inches apart but not touching. “There have been side effects haven’t there?”

“Hunter...”

“Bloody tell me.”

“I said I’d tell you everything, and I meant it. But I don’t want everyone else knowing our business, that’s why I lied. I don’t owe them anything.” Bobbi turned her head away, not wanting to meet his eye. A tear slid down her cheek. Bobbi didn’t cry, but everything had become too much and trying to keep it all inside was eating her up. She tried to tell Hunter then, she really did, but the words caught in her throat. 

Hunter visibly softened at her distress, his anger dissipating. “Whatever it is, we’ll find a way to deal with it. Together.”

Bobbi sniffed, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “I’ll show you” she said, composing herself. “Don’t freak out.”

“Right. Telling me not to freak out is the perfect way to calm me down.” 

Hunter’s sarcasm lifted the tension somewhat, but Bobbi was still filled with nerves about the consequences of what she was about to do. But she didn’t have second thoughts, and she realised in that moment that this was about to be the most she had ever opened up to anyone, the most vulnerable she had ever let herself be. She also realised that there was no one in the world but Hunter than she trusted more. He was right, this baby belonged to both of them and he had just as much right as she did to know all the information.  
Bobbi ducked into the bathroom and emerged a moment later holding the nail scissors. Hunter was confused and didn’t try to hide it. She rolled up her sleeve and opened the scissors, Hunter’s eyes grew wide with shock. 

He watched as she drew one blade in a long line across the top of her forearm and jerked forward to take the scissors from her, but she put them down on the dresser and motioned with her other hand to halt him. “Look.”

Hunter followed Bobbi’s gaze to her arm where the deep cut she had just made was slowly knitting together, healing steadily from one end to the other. Hunter walked towards her, calmer now but no less confused. He ran his hand gently over where the wound had been. Only a single drop of blood remained on her otherwise unbroken skin and he wiped it away with his thumb.

“What does this mean?” Hunter asked, his voice quiet with shock.

Bobbi shook her head. “I don’t know.” Her voice was quiet and her words strained with emotion.

Hunter wrapped his arms around her and she relaxed into his embrace. “Bobbi...” He nuzzled his face into her shoulder. “How long have you known about this?”

“I knew something was wrong that night, the day of the explosion. I noticed my bullet scar had gone and things started to make sense. Why I felt so great so quickly after the hospital. I’ve been knocked out before, I’ve never bounced back so fast. I don’t know what made me try it, I just had a feeling.” Her tears were properly falling now, but calmly, as though she were releasing feelings she’d been keeping inside. “The baby is doing this, I’m sure of it.”

“You should have told me.” Hunter’s words were flat, but not harsh. Bobbi knew he was right.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t...” Hunter stroked her hair. “Don’t worry about it now. Get some rest, tomorrow Simmons can run some tests and we’ll figure out what’s going on.”

“No.” Bobbi pulled away. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell them. I can’t have anyone turning me or our baby into a lab experiment, I won’t let it happen.”

“I don’t think it would.” Hunter was taken aback by Bobbi’s outburst, but tried to stay calm for her. 

“You don’t know that. I don’t trust them Hunter. I hate myself for it, but it’s the truth. The only person I trust is you.”

He didn’t know what had prompted this admission from Bobbi and he didn’t agree with what she was saying, but despite that he felt pleased that she had opened up to him, if no one else. “I’m so happy to hear you say that.” Now it was his turn to be truthful.

A small smile flickered on Bobbi’s face, but it was tinged with a sadness Hunter couldn’t pin down. “Hunter, I’m terrified.”

“I know.”

“It’s all so crazy. I never wanted kids, I never thought they would ever be part of my life plan, but now that it’s happening I’m losing my mind.” Bobbi sat down on her bed and put   
her head in her hands. 

Hunter sat beside her “Is this what being a parent is like?”

Bobbi continued. “This isn’t a normal pregnancy, I know that. I know we need to ask for help but I’m not ready to hand my body over to a team of scientists to prod and poke and   
God knows what else. Do you understand that?” She turned her head, looking at Hunter expectantly.

He inched closer to Bobbi and turned his whole body to face her. “I’m scared too Bob. I’m scared for you and for the baby, I’m scared because we have no idea what that thing was and what it wants. But the thing I hate the most about all of this is the thought that I am out of my depth and I don’t know how I can help you.” He paused. “This is bigger than us, we need to ask for help.”

“I can’t” Bobbi said, regret in her voice. “I need time, I need to get away.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter the day after 'Parting Shot'. There were a lot of emotions, you guys...

Chapter 6

Bobbi sat at the counter and pressed a wad of cotton wool to her inner arm. She had let Jemma draw her blood, but as she watched the vial fill up she instantly had second thoughts. Bobbi never usually made decisions without being one hundred percent sure, and she certainly never backed down from a decision once it was made, but everything that was happening had thrown her off her game. Bobbi wasn't herself, and that was what bothered her most of all.

She didn't hear Hunter enter the room until he planted a kiss on her head. "Are you hungry?" he asked. "I can make pasta."

Bobbi heard him open the refrigerator door. A second later there was the hiss of a soda can being opened. Bobbi didn't turn around, or answer his question. "Do you think I made a mistake?" she asked instead. "Telling Daisy and Jemma, letting Jemma take my blood?"

"You know my feelings on the matter Bobbi." Hunter closed the door, and walked over so he was standing next to Bobbi. He took a swig of coke. It occurred to Bobbi that this was the exact place a week ago where she had first told him the news but let the thought pass. It seemed like a life time ago, so much had changed.

"You know my feelings too" Bobbi said, but then fell silent. It was because of Hunter that she had given Jemma her blood, even before she had admitted to him the whole story, she knew in the back of her mind what he was going to say and reluctantly admitted to herself that he was right. But just because Bobbi knew she needed help to understand what was happening to her and the baby inside her didn't mean that she wanted it. Not yet. She needed to wrap her head around what she had learned on her own before she could absorb more information.

Hunter sat down on the stool and reached across for Bobbi's hands. She discarded the cotton wool and placed her hands in his.

"Has Simmons tested your blood yet?" Hunter asked.

"Not yet. She said she'd call me if she learnt anything."

Hunter put his drink down on the counter and sat on the stool next to Bobbi's. "Did you mean what you said before?" he asked hesitantly, "about leaving."

Bobbi rested her cheek on her hand and inclined her head, regarding Hunter's pained expression with sadness. "Yes. Maybe. I don't know." She signed.

"Promise you won't leave without me."

The look on Hunter's face made Bobbi's heart ache. She reached over and cupped his face in her hands. "Of course I won't." Hunter nodded slowly and she pulled his head gently towards her for a kiss. "I don't really know what I want" Bobbi admitted, "I just know what I don't want." She gave a small smile and dropped her gaze to the floor. "I know that's not much help."

"It's a start." Hunter paused. "I know what will help. Come on."

\----------

Hunter clapped his hands together, the muffled sounds of the pads hitting each other echoed around the empty gym.

"Hunter, what are you doing?"

"Sparring. Come on, you know you want to." He bounced from one foot to the other and moved backwards onto the mats. Bobbi raised an eyebrow, a sceptical look on her face. Hunter stopped moving and dropped his arms to his side with a sigh. "Look, I know you. You must be going crazy sitting around waiting for whatever tests Simmons is running. You're like me, you need physical activity to calm your nerves, and since I'm pretty sure my first choice of physical activity is out of the question..."

Bobbi lobbed a boxing glove Hunter's way and it hit him in the chest.

"... Then this is the next best thing." He grinned, and Bobbi bent down to retrieve the glove, pulling it on and adjusting the velcro before putting the other one on and tightening the strap with her teeth.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. Thought it might help."

"Thank you." Bobbi took a step towards him and raised her hands. "I'm surprised; I thought you'd be..."

"Trying to wrap you in cotton wool?"

"Well, yeah."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "What's the point? You wouldn't listen to me anyway." The look on Hunter's face plainly said he was joking. "Are we doing this or what?"

Twenty minutes later they both lay flat out on the mats, breathing heavily. Bobbi had her eyes closed, enjoying the endorphin -induced high that came after a workout. Hunter was right, that was just what she needed. She felt like she could have kept going for half an hour longer, but stopped because the sweat dripping down Hunter's brow told her he didn't feel the same way.

"Bloody hell" Hunter said breathlessly and Bobbi stifled a giggle.

"Ok, your turn." Bobbi jumped up and swiped the pads from Hunter's grip.

"Oh no." Hunter waved his hand dismissively and looked at Bobbi towering above him. "How do you have the energy to go again?"

Bobbi shrugged. "The baby? I don't know, perhaps this whole healing thing includes unlimited energy."

"I'd like to test that theory some other time." Hunter laboriously pulled himself up to a seated position. "I have things to do."

"Ten minutes" Bobbi said, challenging him.

Hunter sighed. He was so glad to see the sparkle back in Bobbi's eyes and the worry off her face, but he could only take it so far. "Look, I'm pleased you're feeling better" he said sincerely, "but I've got to draw the line somewhere. I'm not going to fight my pregnant..." Hunter stopped abruptly, unsure of what to call her. The word 'wife' rolled so easily off his tongue that he had to fight the urge to use it.

"You won't break me, Hunter." Bobbi noticed his near slip of the tongue but chose to ignore it. She saw Hunter blush.

"I know." Hunter sighed. "Fine. Ten minutes."

As they finished their workout, Mack hovered in the door way. He watched Bobbi take a swig of water and Hunter mop his brow with a towel. They exchanged a quick kiss before Hunter grabbed his own drink and walked across the room towards him.

"Hey Mack" Hunter said, still somewhat out of breath. "What's happening?"

"Not much. Coulson sent me to tell you he wants to talk to you both."

Mack noticed Hunter's brown furrow but he didn't say a word, only walked past Mack and out into the corridor with a quiet "Bye."

Bobbi had her back to Mack as he entered the room and didn't seem to notice him until he spoke.

"Hunter went easy on you" he said, and Bobbi turned around.

"How can you tell?"

"I notice these things. Is everything OK?"

Bobbi couldn't look him in the eye. She felt so guilty for lying to Mack, of all people. There was a time when they had worked so closely together, had shared so much and been there for each other before Hunter had come back on the scene, but she had neglected their friendship lately and she hated herself for it. "I'm fine" she finally answered, but even as the words left her mouth she knew she was fooling no one.

"Agent Morse, you can talk to me. What's on your mind?"

Mack sat down on one end of the weights bench and invited Bobbi to sit down beside him. She hesitated a moment before obeying. "You're right, Hunter was going easy on me. I'm pregnant, Mack."

"Wow." Mack didn't try to hide his surprise, but quickly gathered himself again. "That explains a lot. Why you two have been whispering so secretively this past week or so."

Now it was Bobbi's turn to look surprised. "It's been that obvious?"

"Only to me. I haven't stopped looking out for you Bobbi, I just figured you needed space and would ask for help if you needed it."

"I'm sorry" Bobbi said, and she meant it. "Please don't say anything, Hunter will kill me if he knew I'd told you, after I made such a big deal about keeping it quiet."

"Who else knows?"

"Daisy and Jemma. We've not even told Coulson. I'm not ready for that conversation yet."

"How do you feel about it?" Mack asked gently.

"Now there's a question. Ask me in about six months."

Mack grinned and Bobbi couldn't help but smile back. "Is it appropriate for me to say congratulations?"

"I guess so." Bobbi wrapped her arms around Mack's neck and they hugged. "Thanks Mack."

\----------

Hunter found Simmons in her room. The door was slightly ajar and he could see her sat at her desk, chewing on the end of a pen. He knocked sheepishly, feeling awkward about bothering her in her personal space. She looked up from her notebook as Hunter pushed the door open slowly at her request.

"Hunter." Jemma seemed as surprised as Hunter at finding him outside her room. "I don't have Bobbi's test back yet, I'm sorry."

"That's not why I came to find you." Hunter stood on the threshold, unwilling to cross the invisible barrier into her personal territory. He had kept his distance from the team, always preferring his own space and own company, coming to Simmons for help was way outside his comfort zone. Hunter had never been very good at admitting when he couldn't do something for himself.

"What is it?" the young scientist replaced the cap on her pen and switched off her desk lamp.

"I need you to test my blood too."

"Your blood?"

"I know how this works" he said. "I pay attention sometimes." Sarcasm began to creep into his voice but he reined it back upon noticing how uncomfortable Simmons looked. His jokes were an acquired taste. "Look, the Inhuman thing, its genetic right?" Jemma nodded slowly and Hunter continued. "If that's what this is, if that's what's going on with the baby it means that either me or Bobbi have the gene. And since Bobbi didn't change in that room, it must be me. I don't think it's occurred to Bobbi, she's had so much on her mind, but if there's even a possibility..." Hunter trailed off.

"You want to know?" Simmons finished his sentence. "Of course, I can take the sample now. But there's still so much we don't know about the gene, don't start worrying until we get the results, ok?"

As Hunter sat on a stool in the lab a while later watching Simmons draw his blood, he was quietly running through the many 'what ifs' in his head. "Please keep this quiet from Bobbi for now" he said, rolling down his sleeve once the needle had been extracted. "She has enough to worry about without worrying about me too."

"I think she would want to worry" Jemma started, but stopped and sighed. "Of course" she said, labelling the vile and popping it in a rack on the work bench. "I've got to say, I like this side to you. I've not seen it before."

"What side is that then?"

"The gentle, caring side. It's great to see you being there for Bobbi."

Hunter shrugged. "I love her. Where else would I be?"

\----------

"You wanted to see to us boss?" Hunter and Bobbi stepped up behind Coulson who was leaning over a laptop on his desk. Mack sat on a chair the other side of the desk, evidently waiting for the Director too.

"Yes, I did." Coulson looked up and closed the lid of the computer, giving the trio his full attention. "Bobbi, I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier, get your statement on what happened."

Bobbi looked at Hunter fleetingly but nervously, he squeezed her hand and they walked into the room, coming to a stop beside Mack.

"But it can wait" Coulson continued, "I have a mission for you." He looked at Bobbi. "I've heard chatter of a sighting of one of these creatures in upstate New York, I want you and Mack to go and check it out."

"Absolutely not." Hunter spoke on reflex before he had really thought about what he was saying. But if he had taken a moment before speaking up he probably would have said the same thing.

"Hunter." Bobbi sounded shocked. "I'm sorry Director, I..." She really couldn't think of anything more to say. She had run out of excuses for Hunter shooting his mouth off, but she expect that by now the rest of the team were used to it.

"No, you need to rest" Hunter continued, and Bobbi raised an eyebrow at him as a warning but he dismissed it with a look that said, definitively, that he wouldn't let Bobbi put herself in any danger.

"I'm a big girl, Hunter. I can take care of myself." There was a hesitation in Bobbi's voice, her words were for the benefit of Coulson. In truth, Coulson's instruction sent shivers through her body. The last thing she wanted was to come face to face with that thing again.

"I'm coming" was all Hunter said.

Coulson opened his mouth to protest but Mack interjected. "Let him come, Phil. We could use the help."

Hunter sot a questioning look Bobbi's way and she bowed her head, not wanting to make eye contact. Hunter was too busy puzzling over Mack's response to hear Coulson agree, until he became dimly aware that someone was calling his name. He came back to himself to see Coulson watching him expectantly with a level gaze.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said pack your bags quickly, I need to give you a debrief before you depart. Be in the loading bay in 15 minutes."

\----------

Bobbi sat at the controls of the jet preparing everything for takeoff. At least that's what she told herself she was doing, really she was staying out of Hunter's way. She heard footsteps approach from behind and just knew it was Hunter. She took a deep breath. "Before you say anything..."

"You told Mack didn't you?" Bobbi turned around slowly. Hunter took a final few steps towards her and threw his rucksack to the floor against the side of the plane.

He didn't wait for her to respond, but sat down in the vacant co-pilot seat, put his feet up on the dash and changed the subject. "You'll have to teach me to fly one of these things one day, it looks like fun.

Bobbi knew his tactics, humour hid a lot of feelings for Lance Hunter and she suspected she was the only person in his life for a long time that cared enough to look past it. "I told him I was pregnant, that's it." Bobbi touched Hunter's arm. "I'm sorry, I know we said we didn't want to tell anyone."

"He's one of our oldest friends, Bobbi. I get it. And it was you who didn't want to tell anyone. I want to shout it from the rooftops."

Bobbi smiled. "You want to let everyone know you're the big strong manly man who knocked up Bobbi Morse?"

"No" Hunter said, without irony. "I want to tell the world that I'm starting a family with the woman I love."

Bobbi was taken aback. "You really mean that?"

"You bet."

Bobbi took a deep breath, and allowed herself to feel just a tiny bit of excitement. There was so much that was unknown ahead of her and Hunter, touch times that she knew would test them individually, as a couple and as parents, but felt sure that if they stuck together they would get through anything. "I never thought seriously about getting rid of the baby, you know" said Bobbi, after a moment's quiet contemplation of the future.

Hunter swung his legs down and swivelled the chair to face Bobbi, leaning forward to embrace her. "I know."

"Are you ready to rock?"

The both turned to see Mack walk on board and the doors of the jet close behind him.

"Absolutely" answered Bobbi, and with a push of a button, the engines rumbled to life.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Twitter. Really?"

Mack looked up to see an amused look on Hunter's face and was irrationally annoyed. After all this time he should have been immune to it. "Yes" he replied, in a tone that dared Hunter to make a sarcastic remark but he carried on uninterrupted. "We've been scanning the internet and social media for any references or sightings that fit the description of the glowing dude that attacked Daisy and Bobbi and we got a hit."

Mack handed the tablet to Hunter who read off the screen. "At Ben the great 94. That's 'great' with an eight by the way" He was reading aloud for Bobbi's benefit. She had her eyes fixed firmly on the sky ahead. They were still in the air, about half an hour from their destination. "Saw this weirdo in a sick costume" Hunter continued in a dry deadpan voice. "Hash too early for Halloween." He looked up. "What is that?"

"It's called a hashtag" Bobbi said over her shoulder, a smirk on her fact that she was glad Hunter couldn't see "It's so people talking about the same topic can see each other's tweets."

"You've lost me love."

"A ten year old can understand it Hunter. I forgot your mental capacities are a little below that age bracket sometimes."

Mack rolled his eyes. He'd also forgotten Bobbi and Hunter's bickering and how much it grated on him sometimes. "There's a picture" he said, pulling the conversation back on track. He spun the ipad around to show Hunter, before walking to the cockpit and showing Bobbi.

She glanced at it and fear gripped her, but she shook it off quickly. "It's blurry, but that's definitely the thing that we encountered. Who posted the message?"

"Ben the great, apparently."

"Hunter, if you haven't got anything productive to contribute just keep quiet." Bobbi warned.

Hunter was behind her in a moment. He squeezed her shoulder. "Sorry" he said sincerely and kissed her hair.

"Ben the great" Hunter said, bringing up a new screen on the tablet, "otherwise known as Benedict Cartwright."

"21 years old, a student at NYU visiting his family in Queensbury, New York on spring break." Mack recited the details from memory. "We need to go and talk to him."

"What's our cover story?" Bobbi asked.

"Apparently there was a break in at a convenience store near the location where this photo was taken. It could be connected, but even if it's not it give us an excuse to talk to this guy" Mack replied. "Hunter and I will pose at plain clothes police officers and go and see what he knows."

"And me?" Bobbi flashed a look at Hunter, who steeled himself for an argument. "If you think I'm just going to sit here and babysit the plane you have another thing coming."

Hunter reached across and stroked Bobbi's arm. "Bob, please, if we encounter that creature you could be in danger, we don't know what it wants or what..." Hunter caught himself and stopped mid sentence, suddenly aware that Mack didn't know the whole story.

Bobbi caught his meaning, but was still determined to prove her worth. "I can still fight" she said, shifting her gaze to Hunter's concerned face. "You know, not that I'll need to fight. I'll be careful, I promise." She couldn't just sit around, even though she knew it pained Hunter to potentially put her in harm's way. She was an agent, it's what she did, just because she was pregnant didn't mean her will to work hadn't gone away. The creature was probably long gone, she reflected, and if it wasn't, well, they'd just have to deal with it.

"Ok" Hunter gave in, knowing that he'd lose the argument eventually and agreeing sooner saved a lot of time.

"So how far along are you anyway?" Mack asked Bobbi, changing the subject, and he leaned against the wall of the jet.

She smiled. "About 12 weeks."

"When you two disappeared after the explosion, you went to a hospital didn't you? To check the baby was ok?" His question was met by silent nods from both Bobbi and Hunter. "I thought it was strange that you didn't just get checked out back at the base." Bobbi opened her mouth to speak, to apologise or something, but Mack raised his hand to stop her. "You don't need to say anything, it's nobody's business but your own. I understand wanting to keep secrets around that place, believe me."

Hunter shifted in his seat, sitting up straighter. "Thanks man."

"Hey, did you get a scan? Do you have a picture?"

Bobbi's brow furrowed and she looked sideways at Hunter. "Yeah, we did, but I'm not sure..."

"Got it right here." Hunter reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his wallet. Bobbi smiled, touched that he had kept the picture proudly even though they were not sharing the news. Like a normal expectant father, she thought, with a twinge of sadness.

Mack took the picture from Hunter and studied it intently for a moment before a smile spread across his face. "Wow, how about that. I never thought in a million years you two would have kids."

"Trust me" Bobbi said. "Neither did I."

"This kid's going to be a handful, I can tell."

Hunter caught Bobbi's eye. The look they exchanged expressed so many conflicting feelings and emotions that Hunter couldn't put into words if he tried. "You have no idea."

The three SHIELD agents stood side by side watching a basketball game through a chain link fence.

"Which one is he?" Bobbi asked.

"Black shirt, green shorts, beanie hat." Mack pointed to a tall guy tossing the ball to his friend who shot for the hoop and missed. The game over, the group of 10 or so jogged over to the end of the court and the pile of bags and jumpers that had been flung against the fence.

"We're up" said Hunter. "How do you want to play this?"

"Allow me" said Bobbi, striding past Hunter and Mack. "If he's reluctant to talk, I'm pretty sure I can convince him better than either of you."

"Oh no!" Hunter called after her but was ignored. "I don't want some little punk drooling all over you."

"Tough" Bobbi called without looking back. Hunter glanced at Mack and received only a shrug in return. They hurried to catch up with Bobbi before she reached the gate that was the only entrance to the basketball court.

"Benedict Cartright?" She asked and an authoritative voice, and 10 pairs of eyes all turned her way. Hunter quietly seethed, as ridiculous as he knew it was, he felt jealous. But he kept his mouth shut and let Bobbi take point.

"That's me." The guy Mack had pointed out pulled his sweater on over his t-shirt and stepped forward. "How can I help?"

Bobbi took her fake police badge from her back jeans pocket and help it up for Ben to see.

"Am I in some kind of trouble?"

"No. We're investigating a robbery on the convenience store yesterday and understand you saw a suspicious figure around?"

"Yeah. This white dude." He stopped himself. "I don't mean Caucasian. I mean, like, actually white. This'll sound stupid." He lowered his voice, so his mates couldn't hear. Not that they would, thought Hunter, they were all to bust staring at Bobbi with their tongues hanging out. "He was glowing."

"Glowing?" Bobbi did well to look surprised and disbelieving, not wanting to give away anything that might alert this guy into thinking they were not who they said they were. Mack and Hunter held back, their arms folded, listening to the conversation but keeping quiet.

"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was coming out of the liquor store. I hadn't been drinking if that's what you're thinking. Anyway, I was crossing the street to go to the ATM and I felt something rush past me and disappear around the corner into the alley next to the store. I went to have a look and there was that... Thing. It didn't see me at first so I took out my cell to take a picture, but it caught me watching and took off."

"Where did it go?"

"Around to the back of the store, I guess. You said the store was robbed?"

Bobbi nodded.

Ben continued. "Was anyone hurt? Is Mr Ramos ok?"

"Is that the owner?"

"Yeah. He's a strange old guy, but he's always friendly to everyone. Please, tell me if he's alright."

Promising to contact Benedict if they learnt anything new, Bobbi, Hunter and Mack gingerly pushed open the back door to the store, ignoring the police tape that stretched across the doorway. Surprisingly but happily there were no actual officers keeping guard of the crime scene.

"The call came in from a neighbour a few doors down" said Mack, in a hushed voice. "The owner didn't put in the call and no one has seen him since last night."

Instinctively, Hunter moved in front of Bobbi as they entered the building, drawing his gun and moving cautiously into what turned out to be a back storeroom. It occurred to Bobbi to be annoyed, but all her arguments about being able to take care of herself were eclipsed by her pleasure at Hunter's insistence that he would protect her. Ever since she had told him about the baby a couple of weeks ago, she had seen a side to him that she had always known was there, bubbling under the surface, but was now amplified. Hunter had always kept his feelings close to the surface; it was both what she loved about him and what had infuriated her so much when they were married.

Emerging into the front of the store, they saw definite signs of a struggle. Goods littered the floor.

"The cash register is still here" said Mack. "That's weird."

"Definitely not normal" agreed Hunter. "Booze is here too." He caught Mack's look. "What? Money or alcohol is what robbers are usually after right?"

Bobbi picked up a baseball bat that he rolled unseen underneath some shelves. "Looks like the owner put up a fight."

"There's no blood" said Mack. "Wherever this Mr Ramos is, I think he was alive when he left."

"Do you think this is connected to the sighting of the creature?" Hunter asked. "It could just be a very bizarre coincidence."

"It doesn't look like a robbery" Bobbi said, standing up. Hunter detected a waiver in her voice. "It looks like a kidnapping."

"Why would this creature, whatever it is, be after this guy?" Mack stared off into the distance, pondering his own question.

"Mr Ramos is Inhuman" Bobbi said with certainty. "It makes sense. This creature, or creatures, is rounding up Inhumans."

"Are Hydra out-sourcing?" asked Mack, mostly to himself. "Why would they not use their own resources for something like this?"

"Deniability" said Bobbi. "Or it could not be Hydra at all."

"I need to call Coulson, give him an update."

Mack left the way they had entered in case anyone was watching the front of the store. Bobbi and Hunter waited until he was out of earshot before turning to each other. "We can't stay here" Hunter said. "What if it comes back? If your theory is true, you're in real danger." Bobbi didn't contradict him. He saw fear in her eyes.

"It knows about the baby, Hunter. I felt its confusion when it studied me before. I'm sure it was trying to take Daisy, mentally overpower her, but it got distracted and broke the link. It must have figured it out by now, which means whoever it reports to, be that Hydra or someone else, will know too."

"It will be ok" said Hunter, trying to convince himself as well as Bobbi. "Let's go outside."

As they emerged into the falling evening light, Bobbi felt bewildered and dizzy. Her mind swam with every possible and horrible outcome this new information they had deduced would lead to. It was all she could do to keep on her feet. She clutched Hunter's arm to steady herself.

Mack was against the wall further up the alley talking into his cell. Bobbi tugged Hunter's arm to hold him back. "What are we going to do?" she asked in a whisper. "Should we tell Mack the whole story?"

"Do you want to?" Hunter asked.

"I trust him with my life" said Bobbi, answering the question in a roundabout way. "But I can't help feeling like the fewer people that know, the better for everyone."

Hunter nodded. Whether he agreed or not, he didn't say. The truth was that what he thought didn't matter to him half as much as making Bobbi feel safe and comfortable. Just then, there was a noise from the second story and they both looked up. Hunter and Bobbi both pulled out their guns as a reflex and backed away from the building in order to get a better look into the small window above their heads.

Bobbi inhaled sharply and dropped her weapon. Hunter's eyes widened in fear at the sight of all the colour draining from her face. "Talk to me Bob" he called urgently, and grabbed her shoulder with his free hand, all the while searching the window for any signs of movement.

Bobbi's face was contorted into a grimace and she gripped her stomach in pain. "Hunter" she said, her voice strained.

"Does it feel like before?" he asked, fear in his voice.

"No" she replied, "not exactly..." Bobbi's voice grew small and trailed off completely.

Hunter made a split second decision and aimed a shot at the window above them, in the hope that the noise would startle the creature which was surely up there, and it would release its grip (how was it doing that?) on the baby and in turn Bobbi. The glass shattered and Bobbi slumped to the floor, breathless and in pain but conscious.

"Mack" Hunter yelled, and Mack turned, having just hung up his phone.

"Look out" Mack called back, and a beat later, the alien creature had climbed through the shattered window and dropped to the ground, landing on all fours like a cat. It stood upright, startled, and glanced quickly around, before darting for the open end of the alley and freedom. Hunter was knocked aside and landed in a heap beside Bobbi.

Mack made a move to block the way out, using his bulk to act as a barrier. He pulled his own gun, ready to fire, but quick as a flash the creature grabbed his wrist and flung him to one side. Mack fell to his knees, gripping his arm in agony, and just like that, the creature vanished.

Hunter crawled to Bobbi. She was weak and breathing heavily but otherwise unharmed. He brushed her hair from her face, searching her eyes for any sign to the contrary. "Bobbi, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I think so." Hunter was not convinced. "Mack?"

Hunter looked up down the alley. Mack was trying to get to his feet, struggling with his injured arm. He locked eyes with Hunter. "What the hell was that?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comment lara100300. I had forgotten I had started posting this fic here. Here's the next chapter.

“Cheeseburger please.” Bobbi smiled at the waitress. “All the trimmings. Fries and a strawberry milkshake.”

“And for you sir?”

Hunter put the menu down on the Formica-topped table. “No food for me, just coffee.”

The waitress nodded and scribbled on her pad. Bobbi waited until she had left before glaring at Hunter. “You should eat something.”

“Are you kidding?” Hunter struggled not to raise his voice. “I can’t think about food, I feel sick with worry about you.” He squeezed Bobbi’s hand across the table, unwilling to let go of her as if that alone would keep her safe.

“Hunter, I’m...”

“If you say you’re fine, I swear to god Bob...” The couple in the next booth looked up and Hunter lowered his voice as the sentence tailed off.

“I was going to say I’m sorry” said Bobbi, placating him. “You were right. I should have stayed with the plane.”

Hunter rested his forehead on his free hand and took a breath to steady his nerves. He was still on edge, the adrenaline that had coursed through his body had not yet dissipated. He and Bobbi were sat in the diner across the street from the town’s medical centre waiting for Mack to get his arm checked out. The daylight was fading but it was not yet dark. Hunter needed a serious drink, coffee was not going to cut it. He coughed quietly and raised his head, getting back to business. “Tell me what happened. You said it didn’t feel the same as before?”

Bobbi shook her head. “It didn’t hurt before. This is going to sound crazy, but it was if the baby was fighting back. Whatever that creature was trying to do, brainwash me or whatever, it was like the baby was repelling it. Like it had adapted.”

“The baby is the size of a lemon” Hunter said, sounding sceptical.

“I said it was crazy.”

“No, it’s not crazy, just... a lot to get my head around.”

“Hey, how do you know how big the baby is?”

“Looked it up, didn’t I?” Hunter gave a lop-sided smile which Bobbi returned, relaxing for the first time since they’d touched down. 

The waitress returned carrying their drinks and placed them on the table wordlessly. She began to walk away when Hunter called her back. “I’ll have some pie” he said.

“Cherry ok?”

“Smashing.” She raised an eyebrow and Bobbi scoffed.

“What?” said Hunter, as the waitress walked away.

“Smashing? What kind of word is that?”

“I’ll have our kid talking in British slang, you can count on it.” Bobbi laughed but grew quiet. 

“What is it?” Hunter prompted, noticing the change in her demeanour.

“It’s nice, talking about the baby like this, like normal. I almost forget that nothing about this is normal.” Bobbi felt her eyes well up but she didn’t try to fight it this time. The more she got used to the idea of becoming a Mom, the more excited she grew, but only if she pushed other thing to the back of her mind. She wiped away a tear with the back of her hand.

It pained Hunter to see Bobbi cry. It didn’t happen often, she was the strongest person he knew, so good at pushing her emotion away to get on with the job. He wasn’t able to do that. But when she did cry it broke his heart. Hunter placed both hands on Bobbi’s, his coffee forgotten. “We will do our best to make everything as normal as it can be” he said. Then and there he made a promise to himself to do just that.

“It might not be that easy, Hunter. What if they baby comes out... different. Bright green and scaly or something.” When Bobbi caught Hunter’s shocked look, she didn’t back down. 

“I’m serious. I mean, Sky and Lincoln look normal, but what about Raina? Or that guy with no eyes... We have to treat it as a very real possibility.”

“We have plenty of time to figure out how to raise a mutant baby.” Hunter waited, using humour to deflect or distract was a risk. His comment earned him a sharp, piercing look but despite herself, Bobbi laughed.

“Don’t call our child a mutant. It’s far far too soon for jokes.”

Hunter replied with a wink. This was better, this was more like them. As long as they could still tease each other he knew they would be alright. Their waitress approached with their meals and Hunter gave Bobbi’s hand a last gentle squeeze, before picking up his napkin and fork.

“Hey, Mack’s out” Bobbi said, as their plates were placed in front of them, and Hunter looked through the blinds to see Mack cross the road with his arm in a sling. A minute later the bell on the door sounded and Mack entered the diner. He spotted them and slid into the booth beside Bobbi.

“Looks good” he said, eyeing up Bobbi’s burger. “I’m starving.”

“How’s the wrist?” Hunter asked,. He noticed Bobbi turn her head towards the window, collecting herself so Mack wouldn’t know she was upset.

“It’s just a sprain” Mack said, sounding relieved. “But I still have to wear this thing for a day or so. And there’s no way I can fly the Quin Jet back tonight.”

“I can fly” said Bobbi, returning to her meal, but Hunter and Mack both shook their heads. 

“No way” said Hunter, ready for a fight, but the distant sound in Bobbi’s voice and the pale look on her face told him that she wasn’t going to argue. “You need to rest darling.”

Hunter never called her pet names in public, unless he was being sarcastic. She looked across to see if he had noticed but he was too busy shovelling a fork full of pastry into his mouth.

“It’s no big deal.” Mack picked up the menu and scanned it as he spoke. “There must be some place to stay around here, we’ll get a motel for the night. We’ll call the base and tell them what we’ve found and head back first thing in the morning.”

Bobbi and Hunter exchanged a look. “A night away might be good” Bobbi said.

“Can I get you anything sir?”

The waitress appeared from nowhere and stood by Mack, her pencil poised. “Waffles please, extra syrup. And do you know somewhere we might be able to get two rooms for the night?”

\----------

It was just after 9pm when they walked up to first floor balcony of the motel. It wasn’t hard to get two rooms next to each other, the place was dead. But not in an abandoned, run down sort of way, it was just quiet, which the Playground certainly wasn’t. Bobbi turned the key in the lock but had to lean on the frame as she pushed open the door.

In a second, Hunter’s hands were on her waist to steady her. “I think you need to lie down.” Hunter flicked on the light switch and lead Bobbi inside. She didn’t fight it, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t know why I still feel weak this time” said Bobbi. “I’ve bounced back quickly the past couple of times I’ve been attacked since the baby...” Bobbi spoke in hushed tones, but still looked towards the door nervously in case Mack were to come in. 

Hunter crouched on the floor by Bobbi’s feet and pulled her boots off. “Do you know how messed up that sounds?” He paused for a second. “I don’t care who you are, how elite a spy or good a fighter, you shouldn’t be putting yourself in a position to be attacked in the first place.”

Hunter struggled to keep his voice down. He was angry, but not at Bobbi. Well, not much. “Look, I’ve been letting you deal with this your way but this is it, Coulson has to know. If he did there is no way he’d have sent you on this mission, put you in harm’s way. You can’t be the same Bobbi Morse, you have different priorities now.”

Bobbi nodded. “You’re right.”

“Hey” Mack looked in through the open door but stopped when he saw the looks on Hunter and Bobbi’s faces. “Sorry, I’ll come back.”

“It’s OK Mack” Bobbi said. “What is it?”

“I called Coulson, told him what had happened and what we found. He wants us to go back to the store in the morning and take some samples and readings for analysis to compare with the data from the other day.”

Bobbi only nodded. She didn’t want to go back there, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“I thought I’d get some beers in” Mack said.

“Well, I won’t” Bobbi said, stretching out on the bed on top of the covers, “but you boys go for it.”

“Should you be drinking either?” Hunter asked, indicating Mack’s sling.

“The doc gave me some painkillers, but I prefer beer to do the job.”

Hunter shrugged. “Sure.” He turned to Bobbi, her eyes were closed. “Do you mind? I’ll only be outside.”

Bobbi opened her eyes again briefly, and smiled up at Hunter’s face hovering above her. “I don’t mind. Go, relax.” Bobbi exhaled slowly and sunk into the covers. She heard the door click shut but was already drifting off to sleep.

\----------

Hunter and Mack sat on deck chairs beneath the balcony outside their rooms. Mack twisted the cap off a beer bottle and handed it to Hunter before pulling another from the shopping bag by his feet and opening it for himself. “Cheers.” The clink of their bottles touching each other echoed in the empty courtyard.

“Cheers.” Hunter took a swig of the cold liquid and breathed a sigh. “What a day.”

“Thank God for the 24 hour mini-mart right?” Mack was quiet for a moment, staring across the garden. “Today felt like old times” he finally said, reminiscing. “Me, you and Bobbi on a mission. I half expected to see Hartley walk round the corner any second.”

Hunter smiled. “I wonder what Izzy would have to say about the situation me and Bob have got ourselves into.”

“She’d be happy for you guys” said Mack without hesitation. “I know she would. As am I.”

“Thanks Mack.” Hunter didn’t know what else to say. Of all the people in their team, Mack was the one he felt worst about lying to.

Mack caught Hunter’s expression and frowned. “Are you happy for you?”

Hunter blinked. “Yes, God, yeah... It was a shock, I won’t lie. And how the hell we’re going to make it work I have no idea but yeah. I’m happy.”

“Listen man, I don’t know what’s going on but I know there’s more to it than you’re telling me. And that’s ok, I don’t need to know every detail, just know that I’m here to help you both in any way I can. The whole team will be, whenever you feel ready to tell them.” Mack paused and took another swig of beer. “I know Bobbi can be stubborn.”

“You don’t need to tell me that.”

Mack grinned. “Right. She’s not very good at making herself vulnerable.”

“I’m going to look after her, Mack. You don’t need to worry, I’m not going anywhere. As much as I hate it sometimes, she’s practically the only thing that keeps me going.”  
“You may tell yourself that, but I know you care about what SHIELD does more than you let on. We can’t do what we do if we don’t believe in the cause.”

Hunter pondered that for a second. “Yeah, I do” he finally said truthfully. “But if Bobbi wanted to walk away I’d give it all up in a heartbeat. She’s my reason, you know? And the baby... I’m going to do whatever I can to keep them safe.”

\----------

Bobbi was woken up by a crash and a muttered swear word as Hunter knocked over a chair in the dark. The look on his face when she switched on the bedside lamp was a picture. He looked like a little boy caught in the act of committing some mischief and she couldn’t help but giggle.

“Sorry” Hunter said, looking so apologetic that Bobbi found it impossible to be mad. “I was trying not to wake you.”

“Well done” she said sarcastically. She propped herself up on her elbows and regarded him with mock annoyance. “You’re drunk.”

“A bit.” Hunter pulled his boots off, hopping on one foot then the other and pulled off his shirt, leaving all discarded items of clothing lying in the middle of the floor. He climbed over Bobbi to the other side of the bed and fell onto the pillow. The mattress springs squeaked on impact and he let out a groan.

“Hey” Bobbi said. Hunter’s eyes had drifted closed but he opened them again, turning his head to face her. She cupped his cheek in her hand and shifted under the covers to move closer to him so their faces were inches apart. “Thank you. For...” Bobbi faltered, suddenly growing bashful. “For all of it. For not running a mile when I told you I was pregnant, for understanding that I don’t want to tell Coulson even though I know you think I’m wrong.” She ran her hand down his face, then his neck. Her palm came to rest on his bare chest. Bobbi stared at her hand for a moment. “For looking out for me.” Her eyes moved back up to meet Hunter’s. “For loving me.”

He held her gaze and reached to brush her hair from her face. Hunter’s words were clear even through the haze of alcohol. “I do you know. Love you.”

“I love you too.” Bobbi kissed Hunter, long and deep. “Are you going to take your pants off and get under the covers or what?” she asked inbetween kisses.

Hunter pulled back. “I didn’t want to be presumptuous.” Hunter had a naughty grin on his face as he unbuckled his belt, one that was mirrored on Bobbi’s face as she lifted up the quilt. 

“Oh, you should presume.”

Hunter did not need to be told twice. He kicked off his jeans and sank into Bobbi’s embrace. Her arms snaked around his back and she pulled him close. So lost were they in their passion that neither of them heard Hunter’s phone in his back jeans pocked buzz from the floor. If they had, they would have seen Simmons’s face flash up on caller ID as the call rang through to voicemail.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Bobbi woke up in the middle of the night and the first thing she noticed was that Lance was not in bed beside her. She blinked in the darkness, her eyes adjusting, and saw a crack of light escaping from beneath the bathroom door. Minutes later when Hunter hadn’t returned to bed, she threw back the covers and walked slowly across the room, trying not to make a sound. When she reached the door, she knocked gently. “Hunter, are you ok?”

“Go back to bed Bob.” Hunter’s voice was muffled. Bobbi heard the faucet run, imagining Hunter splashing his face with ice cold water and glancing at himself in the mirror as he did so. Bobbi stepped back from the door but did not go back to bed. She could tell something was wrong and was not going to let Hunter evade her questions.

The bathroom light went off and Hunter emerged. Even in the dim light provided by the light outside the window Bobbi could tell he had been crying. She put a hand on his chest as he tried to walk past, stopping him in his tracks. “Hunter.”

He sighed and wrapped her in a bear hug without saying a word. It caught Bobbi off guard but she relaxed into his arms. “I don’t want you to worry Bobbi. We’ll talk in the morning.”

“It is morning” she replied, not letting him get away that easily.

“I meant...” Hunter’s sentence trailed off. “Look, I had a voicemail from Jemma. She has our test results back.”

Bobbi nodded, taking it in, but a second later looked at Hunter quizzically. “Our results?”

Hunter let Bobbi go, pulling back so he could look at her face in the dim light. He gently held both of her arms, running his hands across her skin. “I didn’t want to worry you until I knew for certain, I just had a feeling.” Hunter walked over to the bed and Bobbi followed. He sat on the edge of it on top of the rumpled covers. Bobbi sat beside him and placed her hand on his knee. “The inhuman thing, it’s genetic “ he continued, choosing his words carefully. “I needed to know if it was me.” Hunter didn’t look up. He waited for Bobbi to speak.

Any anger that Bobbi might have felt at Hunter not telling her he had been tested was eclipsed by concern when she saw the look on his face. He was as white as a sheet. “I wish you’d told me sooner” was all she said. “You’ve been there for me every minute, I want to be there for you too. Don’t ever feel like you can’t tell me something because you think you have to be strong for me. You don’t, I can take care of myself. And you. And our child. You don’t have to carry the burden of all this crap alone.”

It was as if Bobbi was reading Hunter’s mind. “I’m sorry I lied” he said and leaned into her.

“We’ll get our results together” Bobbi said. “Then we will deal with whatever they are together.”

“You must be freaking out too, I didn’t mean to make it all about me.”

“There’s a first for everything.”

“Hey.” Hunter started to protest but stopped. He squeezed Bobbi’s hand. “Let’s go back to sleep, we’ll call Simmons in the morning.”

They lay back down but sleep was not forthcoming. They both lay there silently, not even trying to feign sleep for the others’ benefit. Eventually Bobbi fell asleep first. Wrapped in Hunter’s arms she felt safe, as though whatever the universe would throw at them would work out as long as he was there. Hunter on the other hand stared at the ceiling in the approaching dawn light, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders despite Bobbi’s words.

Bobbi woke up what felt like only a few minutes later to sun streaming through the window and an empty space beside her. On the nightstand was a note. And a blueberry muffin.  
Went with Mack to finish up at the store. Enjoy breakfast. X

\----------

It was early. Too early. Despite the coffee he’d grabbed for himself when he bought Bobbi’s muffin, Hunter stifled a yawn as he ascended the stairs to the apartment above the store where the vanished Mr Ramos lived alone.

Up ahead, Mack stopped when they reached the door at the top of the stairs and glanced at Hunter. He too was feeling the effects of last night’s beer but felt decidedly more awake than Hunter looked. “Get much sleep?” he said with a smirk.

“I know what you’re inferring Agent Mackenzie, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong.” Hunter saw Mack’s grin but held up a hand. “But actually, you’re right, I hardly got a wink of sleep and that is not the reason.”

Mack’s smile faded into a look of concern. “Everything alright?”

“Yes. Kind of.” Hunter sighed. As much as he wanted to confide in Mack and reveal everything that was on his mind he knew he would be in a world of trouble with Bobbi if he did. 

As they opened the unlocked door into the empty apartment, they entered a small living room. It was cluttered but tidy and clean, traces of 60 years of life covered every surface, photographs and books were piled everywhere. A family photo that looked to be 20 years old or more caught Hunter’s eye and he picked it up. A mother and father, two small boys and a baby girl smiled up at him from the frame. “Do you ever think about having a family some day?”

Mack looked up from the pile of papers he was leafing through on the dining table and pondered Hunter’s question. “I think about marriage sometimes” he admitted. “It would be nice to have someone to go home to at the end of the day, but I’ve never met the right person.”

“There’s no such thing as the right person” Hunter said with an air of knowing all too well how hard marriage can be. “No two people will ever be perfect for each other, it’s all about balance, and compromise. Something I was never much good at.”

“I’d love to grow old with someone” Mack continued. “But children? I’ve never seen them in my future. I love kids but don’t see how I could be the kind of father I want to be while doing this job.” Mack stopped abruptly, realising what he was saying. “Sorry.”

Hunter put down the photograph and sat down on the arm of the couch, his mission to look for clues about the gentleman’s disappearance momentarily forgotten. “Please, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Have you guys thought what you’re going to do when the baby is born?”

Hunter shook his head. “We’re too busy trying to deal with what’s happening now to come up with any concrete plans. We can’t continue the way we are though, I know that much.”

Mack studied his friend. “There’s something you’re not telling me isn’t there?” His question was rhetorical, he knew full well there was more to this than Hunter and Bobbi had admitted to him but could also tell that they weren’t ready to share it. “It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me. But know that you can if you want. I can keep a secret. I am a spy.” Mack smiled.

His phone rang and he reached into his pocket. He saw Coulson’s number flash up on the screen for a video call and hit accept.

“Agent Mack.”

“Director.” Hunter stood up and walked behind Mack so he could see the screen. “Have you got information for us?”

“Yes. We don’t yet know anything about these creatures we keep running into but I can tell you something about their victim. Joseph Ramos, 63, is on the index. We don’t know a lot about him but we believe his power is the ability to sense other inhumans or those with the gene who have not yet transitioned.” At this piece of information Hunter’s blood ran cold but he held it together, concentrating on Coulson’s words.

“For this reason I believe that Mr Ramos was kidnapped, not harmed. Whoever these creatures are I think they want to round up people with powers for their own ends.”

“Wait a second” Mack spoke up. “It seems like they already have that ability, what would they want with Mr Ramos?”

“I don’t think so” said Coulson. “I think they were looking for the information we took when Me, Bobbi, Daisy and Jemma encountered one before. They didn’t track Daisy down, we just happened to run into them. I don’t know how they managed to find Mr Ramos but you can bet it took a lot more effort than they would like. With him now it will make their job a lot easier.”

Hunter listened to Mack and Coulson’s conversation but didn’t say a word. His mind was racing, what if they already had a head start and knew where every inhuman was already? He was gripped with the sudden need to get back to Bobbi. Screw the mission. He should never have left her alone.

“Gather what you can quickly and come back to base” the Director ordered. “We’re going to need every available agent on this.”

\---------

Bobbi was fully dressed, her hair still wet from the shower, and was waiting impatiently on the balcony outside their room for Hunter and Mack’s return. After his admission last night she was mad at Hunter for not waking her this morning, but also a little grateful that she had time alone to think. She felt guilty that it had not even occurred to her that if the baby was inhuman it could be from Hunter. She was too wrapped up in the implications for herself and the baby to realise. And now she was back to being mad at Hunter, only now for the added reason of not telling her sooner that he had been tested as well.

And now their blood results were back and she was going quietly crazy waiting to find out what they said. She was staring across the parking lot in the direction of the convenience store leaning on the railing when her phone buzzed in her back pocket. It was Daisy, and she accepted the call apprehensively.

“What’s up Daisy?” Bobbi did her best to sound casual, to keep her nerves at bay in case they overwhelmed her.

“Hey. I called to give you a heads up.” The younger agent was on edge, Bobbi could hear it in her voice. “Coulson, May, and Lincoln are going to see Lincoln’s contact again, find out what the deal was with that room and see if he has any information on these creatures we keep encountering.” 

Daisy paused, searching for words but Bobbi stayed quiet, waiting. “Look, I get why you don’t want to tell Coulson about the baby but I’m pretty sure he’s going to figure out soon enough that something is up. I don’t know if there’s something more to it than what you told me and Jemma, and I don’t want to tell you what to do, but Coulson is going to have some questions and you should think about how you’re going to answer them.”

“I understand.” Bobbi’s first words sounded too formal. “Thank you” she said, more softly. “I’m waiting at the motel for the guys to get back, then me and Hunter are going to call Simmons for our test results before we head back.” Bobbi suddenly had a paranoid thought and stood up straight. “Do you know the results, is that why you’re calling?”

Daisy’s tone was gentle and patient. “No, I have no idea what your results are. It’s confidential and none of my business. Bobbi, try to relax. I’ll see you all soon. I’ll be here, on bed rest.” Daisy’s sarcasm was clear to hear and Bobbi smiled. She knew only too well how frustrating it was to be confined to a bed when there were missions going on around you that you were desperate to be a part of. Bobbi guessed she would have to get used to that.

Bobbi looked down to see Hunter returning, a backpack slung over his shoulder. Mack was not with him. “Hunter’s back, I’ve got to go” she said into the phone. “Thanks Daisy, we’ll see you later.”

She watched Hunter cross the yard and disappear for a moment beneath the balcony she was standing on to walk up the external stairs. When he had reached the landing outside their second floor room she fixed him with an annoyed stare as he approached her. “You should not have gone back there without me” she told him, arms folded. “It could have been dangerous.”

Hunter put the bag down at his feet and kissed her. “That’s exactly why we went back there without you.”

“Where’s Mack?”

“He went back to the jet. I told him we’d meet him there in an hour. Are we going to do this or what?”

By ‘this’ Bobbi knew Hunter meant ‘find out the results that could change our lives’. She also knew that he was using bravado to mask his nerves. That had stopped working on her   
within a couple of days of meeting him but she knew it made him feel better to think everyone else thought he was OK. As she followed Hunter inside Bobbi switched into battle ready mode. The place she went to mentally when she was fighting, the place where her emotions were packed away and she was absolutely focused on the job at hand. The only way I can get through this, Bobbi thought, is to pretend for just a moment that it is all happening to someone else.

Hunter threw open the curtains at the far end of the room and sunlight flooded in. Bobbi pushed the door shut with a click. “Are you ready?” Hunter asked and Bobbi nodded. They sat down on opposite sides of the pine table underneath the window, holding hands across the top. Hunter pulled out his cellphone and dialled before placing it between them on the table top.

“Hello.” Simmons’ answered, sounding somewhat nervous. Bobbi tried not to read too much into that. “How are you?”

“Scared” Hunter admitted. “Bobbi’s here too, you’re on loudspeaker.” He paused. “She knows I was tested, anything you want to say to me you can say to her too.”

“Same goes for me. I’m assuming my results are back as well. Lay it on us.”

Bobbi and Hunter sensed hesitation from the scientist on the other end of the line. “You’ll be back here in a couple of hours, are you sure you wouldn’t rather do this face to face?”

“No.” Hunter was decisive. “I’m going crazy not knowing. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.” He looked up at Bobbi for confirmation and she nodded encouragingly. “But first we need to know what ‘it’ is. Plus trying to get a moment alone in that place is pretty much impossible.”

“Ok.” Jemma paused and Bobbi and Hunter could hear the shuffling of papers on the other end of the line. Bobbi suspected Simmons was trying to stall and had to resist the urge to shout at her to tell them already. “The results are far from conclusive, and a lot of it is speculation on my part. We still know very little about the inhuman gene, we don’t really know what we’re testing for...” 

“Jemma.” Bobbi said her name abruptly but not angrily. Jemma rambled a lot, it came from a place of insecurity that Bobbi thought she had no reason to feel. She was good at her job. The best. There was no one else that Bobbi would rather be hearing this news from now.

“Sorry.” There was a pause, followed by a deep inhale of breath. “Bobbi, you don’t have the gene. Hunter, you do.”

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on and on as this information sunk in. Bobbi felt relief for herself, guilt, then worry for Hunter and their baby all in the space of a second. She watched his face intently, trying to work out what he was thinking.

“Right” he said finally, almost without realising. “What does this mean?”

“Where would you like me to start?” Simmons asked the question probably because she didn’t know where to start herself. It was Bobbi and Hunter’s lives they were discussing. She would let them steer the conversation.

“I could be inhuman?” Hunter phrased it as a question but he already knew the answer. He just needed to hear it from somebody else.

“The important word is ‘could’” Jemma replied. “You have the potential to be inhuman, it doesn’t mean you will. Thousands and thousands of people are walking around with the gene and will probably never even know it.”

Hunter nodded. “What about the baby?” He changed the subject quickly, never feeling very comfortable talking about his own problems. He was much more at home when he got to worry about someone else besides himself.

“You’re probably right about it being inhuman. Sorry, he or she. I didn’t mean to call your baby an it...” she was rambling again but reigned it in. “Your blood results certainly add weight to the theory. Bobbi, are you experiencing any abnormal...” Jemma trailed off, unsure of the right words to use. “powers?”

Bobbi and Hunter caught each others’ eyes, silently deciding whether to reveal the one secret they were keeping from Jemma and Daisy. Bobbi knew all along that Hunter was all for asking for help in any way they could, it seemed stupid to keep this from Jemma now when she had just told them such life-changing information. Hunter nodded in encouragement and Bobbi gave him a small smile in return. “Yes. My bullet scar vanished. It sounds stupid to say ‘healing powers’ but everything about this seems stupid. It has to be connected, it’s too much of a coincidence.”

Bobbi could practically hear the gears in Jemma’s head turn even down the phone line. “We’ll do more tests, we’ll figure it out.”

Bobbi tensed. It was the last thing she wanted, and a funny and unsettling feeling was creeping up on her which she couldn’t explain, especially given what Daisy had just told her about Coulson and their next recon mission. But she didn’t argue out loud, even though logic and instinct were doing battle within her mind for the right to rule. 

For now she and Hunter needed time to process the information they had just received. Hunter had the inhuman gene, so did their baby, but...

Suddenly Bobbi’s blood ran cold. “Wait.” She gripped Hunter’s hand more tightly than she intended and his head snapped up in surprise.

“What is it Bobbi?” Simmons asked.

“If I don’t have the gene how am I alive right now? If terrogens were released that day shouldn’t I have been turned to stone?” she swallowed. “Like Trip?” 

Hunter’s look of distress mirrored Bobbi’s own feelings.

“I was leading to that” Simmons said reluctantly. “I can’t explain that” she admitted truthfully. “This is all new territory, science can’t help me understand that, but logically, you shouldn’t be alive.”

“What are you saying?” Hunter’s words were frantic, urgent.

“I think somehow the baby absorbed all of the mist affecting you and protected you from having a negative reaction.” By now Hunter had stood up and had come and crouched beside Bobbi’s chair. Bobbi stared at Hunter’s phone on the table, she didn’t even notice he had moved until she felt a hand on her back. “Bobbi, I believe your baby saved your life. If you hadn’t been pregnant when you were caught in that explosion you would have died.”

\---------- 

Hunter and Bobbi walked back to the jet hand in hand but silently, each of them using the walk to the field to process this development internally and alone. Hunter was somewhat numb but contradictorily, his mind was racing with potential scenarios, chief of which was the implication of Jemma’s words.

Bobbi could have died. He’d lived through that possibility once before and it made him sick to his stomach to think that it might have happened again. Hunter was going to drive himself crazy dwelling on possibilities that never came to pass, he needed a clear mind to deal with whatever was going to happen next, he couldn’t afford to think that way.  
Next on his mind was the implication of the fact that he had the gene. He thought of all the times he was mere inches or seconds away from being exposed to terrogenisis. Hunter had never decided whether or not he believed in fate, always struggling with the notion that he didn’t have a say in the way his own life would pan out, but he suddenly found himself believing.

When he looked at Bobbi as they left the centre of town he could see from her worried expression that similar thoughts were going through her mind but knew better than to break her thought train. This was how their relationship had evolved and Hunter suspected it was the way that them being together would work this time where previous attempts had failed. In the past he had demanded answers and thoughts and feelings from Bobbi instead of stepping back and trusting that when the time was right she would confide her fears in him. She had never been one to readily share her feelings and by not forcing her too Hunter was finding that she shared more.

In no time at all they were back at the landing sight, the jet was visible from the path, Mac having turned off the cloaking. Bobbi slowed her pace down. “I have a bad feeling Hunter.” It was the first words she had spoken aloud since they had checked out of the motel. She let go of his hand.

Bobbi stopped altogether 10 metres from the quinjet and Hunter walked on a few steps before he realised she was not following. “Daisy called me before you got back. Coulson’s going to put two and two together and figure everything out, I know it.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Bobbi didn’t answer. Nor did she move.

“Hey” Mack spotted them as he lifted a box of equipment and carried into the hold. “All set? I cannot wait to put on some clean clothes.”

“We’ll be right there” Hunter called, then turned back to Bobbi.

“I can’t go back” Bobbi said, her voice rising and the urgency rushing out of her.”I can’t explain it, but I can’t shake the feeling that it is too dangerous. For me, the baby and the team.”

“I’m the one that’s a ticking time bomb” said Hunter, a note of anger and impatience in his words.

“I’m not getting on the plane” Bobbi said, standing firm. “You can stay or go but I can’t go back.”

Hunter grabbed her by the arms. “Of course I’m staying with you, how could you think I’d ever leave you?” His voice softened, he touched his forehead to Bobbi’s. “I think you’re daft, but wherever you go I go. Obviously.”

“We’re ready for take off” Mack called from the jet. He looked at Bobbi. “Do you wanna fly or should I?”

Bobbi bowed her head regretfully. “I’m sorry Mack. We’re staying here.”

“What?” Mack walked down the ramp towards them.

“Tell Coulson I’m sorry. And tell Jemma that I said she could tell you everything. I hope you understand.”

Mack looked confused and worried, but he didn’t try to convince Bobbi otherwise. He knew her too well and he trusted her instincts. “Take care of yourself” was all he said, and as Bobbi watched the quinjet rise into the air before vanishing when the cloak was engaged, Hunter took her hand in his.

“Now what?”


End file.
